BEIRUT: Lebanon on Friday mourned seven people killed in gunbattles in the streets of Beirut the previous day. The confrontation erupted over a long-running probe into last year’s massive port blast in the city and raised fears of the country being drawn into further violence.
Underlying the violence are Lebanon’s entrenched sectarian divides and growing pushback against the port investigation by the two main Shiite Muslim parties, the powerful Hezbollah militant group and its allied Amal Movement.
Schools, banks and government offices across Lebanon shut down for a day of mourning Friday, while funerals were held in several parts of the country.
At a cemetery in a southern suburb of Beirut, Hezbollah members in military uniforms paid their respects, standing before three coffins draped with the group’s yellow flag and covered with white roses. Senior Hezbollah officials were present. Hundreds of women, dressed in black robes, also attended the funeral.
At a separate funeral for an Amal fighter, also in southern Beirut, gunmen opened fire in the air for several minutes.
Thursday’s clashes saw gunmen battling each other for several hours with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades in the streets of Beirut. It was the most violent confrontation in the city in years, echoing the nation’s darkest era of the 1975-90 civil war.
The firefight raised the specter of a return to sectarian violence in a country already struggling through one of the world’s worst economic crises of the past 150 years.
The violence broke out at a protest organized by Hezbollah and Amal which called for the removal of the lead judge investigating last year’s massive explosion at Beirut port. Officials from both parties have suggested the judge’s investigation is heading toward holding them responsible for the blast, which killed at least 215 people.
Many of the protesters on Thursday had been armed.
Ali Haidar, a 23-year-old Shiite who took part in the protest, said nearby residents first started throwing rocks, bottles and furniture, before snipers on rooftops opened fire on the protesters from two directions, leaving people stuck in the middle.
“Then everyone started defending their neighborhood,” he said.
It was not clear who fired the first shot, but the confrontation quickly devolved into heavy exchanges of gunfire along a former civil war front line separating predominantly Muslim and Christian areas of Beirut.
The two Shiite groups accused the Christian Lebanese Forces party of starting the shooting. The Lebanese Forces party denied the charges.
The death toll rose to seven of Friday, after an man succumbed to his injuries, the Health Ministry said. The dead included two fighters from Hezbollah and three from Amal.
Residents in the Tayouneh area of Beirut, where most of the fighting played out, swept glass from the streets in front of shops and apartment buildings. Soldiers in armored personnel carriers deployed on the streets, and barbed wire was erected at some street entrances. Several cars were still parked in the area, damaged in Thursday’s firefight.
Tayouneh has a huge roundabout that separates Christian and Muslim neighborhoods. Newly pockmarked buildings off the roundabout sat next to the ones scarred from the days of the civil war.
One of those killed in the neighborhood was identified as Mariam Farhat, a mother of five. She was shot by a sniper bullet as she sat near the door of the balcony of her second floor apartment, her family said Friday.
“We started screaming, she was taken on a stretcher but did not reach the hospital,” said Munira Hamdar, Farhat’s mother-in-law. She said Farhat’s youngest daughter does not know that her mother was killed, and has been staying with her maternal aunt since Thursday.
Farhat was laid to rest Friday, along with the two Hezbollah fighters, in the Hezbollah ceremony in south Beirut. Her casket also draped with a Hezbollah flag.
Tensions over the port blast have contributed to Lebanon’s many troubles, including a currency collapse, hyperinflation, soaring poverty and an energy crisis leading to extended electricity blackouts.
The probe centers on hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate that were improperly stored at a port warehouse that detonated on Aug. 4, 2020. The blast killed at least 215 people, injured thousands and destroyed parts of nearby neighborhoods. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history and further devastated the country already beset with political divisions and financial woes.
Judge Tarek Bitar has charged and issued an arrest warrant for Lebanon’s former finance minister, who is a senior member of Amal and a close ally of Hezbollah. Bitar also charged three other former senior government officials with intentional killing and negligence that led to the blast.
Officials from both Shiite parties, as well as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, had attacked Bitar for days, accusing him of politicizing the investigation by charging and summoning some officials and not others.
A senior Hezbollah official, Mohammed Daamoush, said in a sermon during Friday prayers that the group will keep pushing to get Bitar removed and “return the port investigation on its right track.” He did not elaborate but analysts close to Hezbollah said they expect Shiite Cabinet ministers and some of their allies to boycott Cabinet meetings.
No Hezbollah officials have so far been charged in the 14-month investigation.
Bitar is the second judge to lead the complicated investigation. His predecessor was removed following legal challenges.
Lebanese hold funerals for 7 killed in Beirut gunbattles
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Lebanese hold funerals for 7 killed in Beirut gunbattles

- Schools, banks and government offices across Lebanon shut down for a day of mourning Friday, while funerals were held in several parts of the country
- Mariam Farhat, a mother of five, was shot by a sniper bullet as she sat near the door of the balcony of her second floor apartment
Jordan’s King Abdullah meets Bulgarian president in Sofia to discuss Middle East security

- King praised Bulgaria’s contributions to regional stability through its NATO and European Union membership
- Both leaders stressed the urgent need to reinstate a ceasefire in Gaza
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in Sofia on Thursday, where the two leaders discussed strengthening relations and addressing key challenges in the Middle East region.
During the expanded meeting at the Presidential Palace, King Abdullah emphasized Bulgaria’s important role in hosting the latest round of the Aqaba Process meetings in partnership with Jordan.
He noted that the discussions were particularly relevant given the current global security landscape, Jordan News Agency reported.
The king praised Bulgaria’s contributions to regional stability through its NATO and European Union membership, highlighting the alignment of views between the two nations on shared geopolitical challenges.
He also underscored the importance of fostering deeper cooperation and understanding between Jordan and Bulgaria.
Radev also stressed the significance of the Aqaba Process meetings in tackling critical security issues such as counterterrorism and radicalization, which are pressing concerns in both the Balkan region and the Middle East.
Reflecting on more than six decades of Jordan-Bulgaria relations, Radev praised the strategic partnership built between the two countries and also acknowledged Jordan’s leading role in advancing peace and stability in the Middle East, emphasizing the shared responsibility of both nations in promoting regional security.
The Bulgarian president lauded Jordan’s efforts to push for an end to the conflict in Gaza, while also continuing humanitarian aid delivery, and advocating for a political resolution.
He reaffirmed Bulgaria’s support for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through a two-state solution.
Both leaders stressed the urgent need to reinstate a ceasefire, facilitate humanitarian aid, and de-escalate tensions in the West Bank.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Jordan’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Mutaz Khasawneh, also attended the meeting.
Upon his arrival in Sofia, King Abdullah was welcomed with an official ceremony at Alexander Nevsky Square, where he laid a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier.
Appeal in Algeria against jail term for writer Sansal

- Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists
- Sansal was arrested in November and stood trial for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity
ALGIERS: The prosecutor’s office in Dar El Beida near Algiers has appealed against a five-year jail sentence imposed on French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, the Algiers bar association told local media.
Sansal, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic storm with France, is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.
“Boualem Sansal and the prosecutor’s office appealed the day before Eid Al-Fitr,” marking the end of the month of Ramadan, which was celebrated Monday in Algeria, said Mohamed Baghdadi, an article on the TSA website said.
The writer’s French lawyer Francois Zimeray told AFP on Wednesday that Sansal had appealed, but that this did not prevent him from being pardoned if the appeal was withdrawn.
Sansal was arrested in November and stood trial for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity, after saying in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.
The statement echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim, and was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty.
On March 27, a court in Dar El Beida sentenced him to a five-year prison term and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).
According to his French publisher, Sansal is 80 years old.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity” toward Sansal.
Baghdadi was quoted by TSA as saying that a pardon is “only possible once the final sentence” is pronounced.
“The case can be judged quickly” and a pardon granted afterwards, Baghdadi added, emphasising that Tebboune is “sovereign in his decisions.”
The date for the appeal has not yet been set, according to TSA.
Sansal’s conviction and sentence further frayed ties between Paris and Algiers, already strained by migration issues and Macron’s recognition last year of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which is claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front.
Israeli action in Gaza leaves more than 39,000 Palestinian children orphaned

- 17,000 children have lost both parents
- Child labor, exploitation fears due to lack of adequate education, social support
LONDON: The Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip has orphaned thousands of Palestinian children — many of them losing both parents — which has left them with no means of support and no access to education.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that at least 39,384 children in the Gaza Strip have become orphans during the 534 days of Israeli attacks since October 2023, with 17,000 children losing both parents.
The PCBS reported that these children face a harsh reality, struggling to survive without support. Many are forced to live in tattered tents or destroyed homes, with little access to social services or psychological support.
Palestinian children, including orphans, endure profound mental disturbances daily, such as depression, isolation and fear, due to a lack of safety and proper guidance, the PCBS said. It warned that they are vulnerable to child labor and exploitation in a harsh environment due to the lack of adequate education and social support.
The education system in the Gaza Strip has been devastated by the conflict, which has destroyed 111 schools with another 241 severely damaged.
Additionally, 89 schools operated by UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) have been bombed or damaged, preventing 700,000 students from accessing education for the current academic year, the PCBS added. Some UNRWA schools have been turned into humanitarian shelters for entire communities in Gaza.
Israel resumed intense bombing of Gaza in March and launched a new ground offensive, ending a ceasefire lasting nearly two months. At least 1,066 people have died in Gaza since Israel resumed its military operations, according to the local health ministry.
UN envoy slams Israel’s ‘repeated and intensifying’ attacks in Syria

- “Such actions undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilize Syria at a sensitive time,” said Pederson
- He called on Israel “to cease these attacks which could amount to serious violations of international law”
GENEVA: The United Nations envoy for Syria on Thursday condemned Israel’s intensifying attacks in the country, warning they were destabilising the Syrian Arab Republic at a sensitive time.
Geir Pedersen decried in a statement “the repeated and intensifying military escalations by Israel in Syria, including airstrikes that have reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.”
“Such actions undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilize Syria at a sensitive time.”
His comment came after Syria accused Israel on Thursday of mounting a deadly destabilization campaign after a wave of strikes on military targets, including an airport, and a ground incursion killed 13 people.
Israel said it responded to fire from gunmen during an operation in southern Syria and warned interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa that he would face severe consequences if its security was threatened.
Israel has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Syrian military assets since Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime strongman Bashar Assad late last year.
It has also carried out ground incursions into southern Syria in a bid to keep the forces of the new government back from the border.
Pedersen called on Israel “to cease these attacks which could amount to serious violations of international law and respect Syria’s sovereignty and existing agreements, and also to cease unilateral actions on the ground.”
He urged “all parties to prioritize diplomatic solutions and dialogue to address security concerns and prevent further escalation.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah calls for end to Israeli war in Gaza during Germany visit

- He thanks Germany for supporting humanitarian response in the Palestinian enclave
- Jordanian leader warns against Israeli military operations in the Occupied West Bank
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan called for an end to the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and urged for a return to a ceasefire agreement during a media conference on Thursday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
He said that the “Israeli war on Gaza must stop, the ceasefire must be restored and humanitarian response efforts must resume,” Petra agency reported.
Jordan is sending aid to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, he added, urging the international community to end the tragedy there.
He thanked Germany for supporting the humanitarian response in the Palestinian coastal territory, where more than 50,000 people have been killed since late 2023 during the Israeli military campaign.
He also warned against Israeli military operations in the Occupied West Bank, which have resulted in the extensive destruction of towns and refugee camps, displacing thousands of Palestinian families. The Jordanian leader highlighted escalating attacks on Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem, increasing tension in the region and undermining peace efforts.
King Abdullah said that a two-state solution is essential for ensuring peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis, as well as for the entire region, Petra added.
'Serious negotiations'
Scholz called for a return to “serious” negotiations to end the Gaza conflict as Israel pushed on with a renewed assault targeting Hamas in the territory.
“What is needed now is a return to the ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” Scholz said, urging a return to “serious negotiations with the aim of agreeing a post-war order for Gaza that protects Israel’s security.”
Speaking alongside King Abdullah II in Berlin, Scholz also urged for more humanitarian aid for Gaza.
“No humanitarian aid has reached Gaza for a month,” he said. “This cannot and must not continue.”
He added that “a sustainable peace that stabilizes the situation in the West Bank as well as Gaza can only be achieved through a political solution.”
Israel resumed intense bombing of Gaza on March 18 before launching a new ground offensive, ending a nearly two-month ceasefire.
At least 1,066 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed military operations there, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
*Additional reporting from AFP