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The Lebanese army pulled tear gas from supporters of Protestant Hezbollah against an Iranian flight forbidden to land in Beirut, while tensions increased between the government and the Shiite militant group.
Supporters of Hizbollah blocked the roads leading to Beirut Airport on Friday and Saturday, but the Government of Lebanon said that it had decided to prevent the plane from landing on the fears that Israel could strike the airport.
The Israeli army had accused Tehran of using civil aircraft to get money smuggling to help militants.
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah deputy, accused the army of an “unjustified attack. . . On women and children who protest peacefully ”. The army said on Sunday that it had been forced to intervene after demonstrators blocked the road and confronted the military staff, injuring 23 soldiers.
The Tasnim Iranian news agency, affiliated with the elites of revolutionaries, said on Sunday that Hizbollah demonstrations were “an ultimatum for the new Lebanese government, which followed the directives of the United States Embassy to obstruct” Funeral of the chief of Hizbollah killed Hizan Nasrallah, scheduled for February 23.
The friction comes while the Hizbollah raised from Iran wraps in its weakened position in the Government of Lebanon, with the party widely sidelined after a new administration has been appointed this year. His conflict with Israel has also considerably reduced the group’s military wing.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is expected to enter a new phase on Tuesday with the withdrawal of Israeli troops. Israel said he could keep certain strategic positions in Lebanon.
The head of Hizbollah, Naim Qassem, insisted that Israel must withdraw from all regions of southern Lebanon on the deadline.
Israeli defense forces killed a woman and injured several others in the south of the Lebanese village in Houla while residents returned to the region on Sunday, according to the Lebanon press agency. The IDF did not comment on the incident.
After a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Hizbollah must be disarmed. Israel would prefer that the Lebanese army does this job, but no one should doubt that Israel will do what he has to do to enforce the understanding of the ceasefire. »»
While the demonstrators met on Friday, a convoy of the UN Peace soldiers heading for Beirut airport was attacked. A vehicle was burnt down and the assistant commander of the Force was injured, said the Unifil mission in Lebanon.
The US State Department said the attack would have been “apparently by a group of Hezbollah supporters”. The Hizbollah and Amal, an ally Shiite movement, both condemned the incident, for which dozens of people were arrested.
The Hizbollah urged the army to open an investigation into the treatment of demonstrators and called on the Lebanese state to protect peaceful demonstrations and allow Iranian planes to disembark.
The demonstrators gathered after the Lebanese government revoked the permission of a passenger plane to fly from Tehran to Beirut on Thursday, leaving dozens of Lebanese travelers, many of whom are pilgrims, blocked.
The decision to block the theft came after the Israeli army accused Iran of having tried to switch silver smuggling intended to arm hizbollah on civilian flights to Beirut airport.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the plane had been threatened, although it did not provide details on the threat.
The Iranian civil aviation organization said that the Lebanese authorities had asked that Iranian flights to their airport be suspended until February 18, the expiration date of the ceasefire, due to safety conditions in Beirut.
Lebanese officials proposed to bring the passengers back to the house to the national carrier in Lebanon via a third country, but Iran rejected this, insisting that Iranian flights are authorized.
“You cannot cancel Iran flights and replace them with Lebanese flights,” Mojtaba Amani, Iranian ambassador to Lebanon on Friday. “This question can be resolved provided that Iranian flights are resuming.”
