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Lebanese officials were shocked by last night’s shooting at the US Embassy in Awkar, in which caretaker Prime minister Najib Mikati saw a clear but unfortunate message. He denounced, in strong words, “a return to the old methods of sending political messages.”
The attack, which seems to have been well planned, was evidently not the work of amateurs. According to initial reports, unidentified gunmen in a 4×4 without number plates fired shots at the entrance of the embassy, at the same time as an individual hiding in the woods opposite the chancellery building.
A total of 15 bullets were fired, without causing any casualties, at around 10:37 PM, a Lebanese security official told AFP, the French news agency. “Some hit the metal security fence and others the concrete walls” surrounding the embassy, he added, stressing that the assailant “left behind a satchel containing two Kalashnikov assault rifle magazines.”
Embassy spokesman Jake Nelson, who confirmed the shooting in the morning, said that “contact is being maintained with the authorities responsible for law enforcement in the host country.”
The incident coincided with the thirty-ninth commemoration of the car bomb attack on September 21, 1984 outside the American Embassy in Beirut. The attack killed 11 people and injured dozens more. The embassy attributed the explosion to Hezbollah at that time.
The attack on Wednesday night came two days after the group of Five (France, United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar) met to discuss the Lebanese presidential issue, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Was this a message to the Americans at a time when there is information about a disagreement between Paris and Washington over the Lebanese issue? Is it a response to the visit of American envoy Amos Hochstein last August to Baalbeck? Hochstein’s unannounced tourist visit to this Hezbollah-controlled region with the US Ambassador, Dorothy Shea, was interpreted as a message to Hezbollah that they can go wherever they like. Did the attackers want to send the same message to the Americans? Many other questions arise.
Lebanese assurances
However, Mikati acknowledged that this was a political message.
“The protection of diplomatic missions in Lebanon cannot be left to chance,” he said from New York, where he took part in the General Assembly of the United Nations. He added, “It is unacceptable to return to the old methods, because of which Lebanon has suffered enormously, in order to send political messages.”
Mikati, who has been in contact with security officials to inquire about the background of this case, stressed that all the security services are mobilized to clarify the circumstances of this incident and arrest the perpetrators of the shooting.
The caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, also contacted Shea to denounce the attack and assure her that the security services were conducting “meticulous” investigations to arrest the perpetrators.
The caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, also had a phone call with Shea. He affirmed Lebanon’s commitment to “provide the necessary protection for the headquarters of diplomatic missions.”
The caretaker Minister of Defense, Maurice Slim, stressed in a telephone conversation with the American Ambassador that “measures have been taken to prevent further similar incidents, especially as the protection of diplomatic headquarters is the responsibility of the Lebanese security services.”
Several other political and religious parties reacted to the shooting.
On its X account, the Renewal Bloc (Tajaddod, comprising MPs Michel Moawad, Achraf Rifi, Fouad Makhzoumi and Adib Abdel Massih) stigmatized “a suspicious act which, above all, undermines security in Lebanon.” The Bloc stressed the responsibility of the State “to identify the culprits.”
Also on X, MP Razi el-Hajj (Lebanese Forces) denounced “a blatant game played by those who specialize in destroying Lebanon’s relations with friendly states,” referring to Hezbollah. “Instead of thanking the United States for its aid to the army and security forces, the aggrieved parties are trying to send suspicious and rancorous messages endangering Lebanon through hidden forces.”
Close to Hezbollah, the Jaafari mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan, “stigmatized a security exploitation of Lebanon, including the shooting at the US Embassy.” In a statement, he said that “the country does not tolerate premeditated scenarios. Any attack on security is forbidden,” he said.
The leader of the Kataeb party, Samy Gemayel, warned against the “gravity of such incidents, which will not be in anyone’s interest, especially those who commit them.”
For his part, Ziad Hawat, member of the Strong Republic parliamentary bloc (Lebanese Forces), noted that the aim of these incidents was to exacerbate security tensions.” “Beware of playing with fire at this critical time,” he wrote on his X account. “Lebanon can no longer assume the role of a mailbox serving the interests of foreign forces.”
As for the National Liberal Party, it considered these incidents to be “a dangerous message and an indication of a return to the intimidation resorted to by certain parties who insist on turning Lebanon into a breeding ground for regional conflicts.”
