The investigations into the Ain Ebel (assassination of Elias Hasrouni, head of the Lebanese Forces in the region) and Kahaleh cases were the focus of a meeting that took place on Monday between the Lebanese Army’s Commander in Chief, General Joseph Aoun, and a parliamentary delegation formed by Ghassan Hasbani, Elias Hankache, Salim Sayegh, Waddah Sadek, Mark Daou and Achraf Rifi.
On Wednesday, August 9, after a Hezbollah truck overturned on a bend in Kahaleh, a shootout broke out between local residents and Hezbollah members. Local resident Fadi Bejjani and the truck driver were killed during the clashes. Last Thursday, the army’s intelligence services summoned four locals as part of the investigation. This measure was strongly contested by the Kahaleh municipal council.
“We insisted on the need to restrict the carrying and transportation of weapons to the legal security forces,” said Lebanese Forces MP Ghassan Hasbani to This is Beirut.
He continued, “We also discussed the progress of investigations into the cases of Ain Ebel, Kahaleh, and even Khaldeh,” where, in 2021, an incident pitted Hezbollah militiamen against Arab tribesmen. “In this respect, we stressed the need for investigations into these cases to be swift and conclusive, and for judgments to be fair and equitable,” added Hasbani.
Regarding the Kahaleh case, Hasbani insisted that the parliamentary delegation sought to “clarify the mechanism for summoning witnesses and defendants.”
Army Commander in Chief Joseph Aoun also received a delegation from the residents and members of the municipal council of Kahaleh.
