The Lebanese army has arrested two people in Beirut's southern suburbs suspected of firing shots during a Hezbollah funeral, in a rare raid on the area.
The army had already made one arrest at the weekend over the shootings in Kafaat, as Lebanon's government desperately tries to show the world – but mainly the US and Israel – it is capable of handling security on its own territory and especially within its capital.
Footage from the funeral shows masked gunmen shooting in the air, with one firing a rocket-propelled grenade in the normally densely populated neighbourhood.
The underfunded but generally respected Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) rarely enter the suburbs, known as Dahieh, regarded as a Hezbollah support base and much of which currently lies in ruins. Many of Hezbollah's top figures, including former secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, were killed there. It is usually also a busy neighbourhood packed with homes and businesses.
Two weeks ago, the Lebanese government ordered its forces to reinforce state authority across Beirut, and acquire all weapons into the hands of the state.
The government had last year signalled its intention to disarm Hezbollah and said this year that the LAF had completed the task in southern border areas.
But Hezbollah's continued ability to attack Israel has led to criticism that the LAF is not doing enough.
War resumed on March 2 when Hezbollah launched six rockets at Israel. The Lebanese government condemned those strikes and moved to make the group's armed activities illegal.
The group said it was responding to the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as constant Israeli ceasefire breaches that followed the 2024 war.
Israel's response has been devastating, killing more than 2,600 people and displacing 1.2 million throughout Lebanon. Its military has established a buffer zone up to a so-called yellow line as far as 10km inside Lebanese territory.
The group has called for the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, to be declared persona non grata after he suggested people who recently insulted Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al Rai online – mostly on pro-Hezbollah accounts – should leave the country. Hezbollah said that was blatant interference in Lebanese affairs.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry recently declared Iran's incoming ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani persona non grata.
A tenuous ceasefire is regularly broken by both sides. Hundreds have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the current truce came into effect on April 16. Hezbollah has shown it can still launch attacks on Israel, particularly on positions inside Lebanon. The group claimed responsibility for five attacks on Israeli positions on Tuesday morning alone.
Perhaps the most intense ground fighting between the sides since the ceasefire came into effect took place on Monday afternoon.
Hezbollah said it had observed Israel soldiers moving north of Deir Seryan towards Zawtar Al Charqiyeh, who were engaged with small and medium arms fire in a “violent short-range confrontation”. They claimed a helicopter that came to evacuate wounded soldiers was also fired on.
The Israeli military had said two troops from its Golani Brigade were injured during fighting in south Lebanon, without revealing where.
Along with its buffer zone, which amounts to Israel's latest occupation of south Lebanon, the Israeli military has also ordered the residents to leave dozens of towns and villages north of the established yellow line.
On Tuesday, the UN refugee agency warned that despite the ceasefire, the displacement and humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is "far from over". According to the National Council of Scientific Research in Lebanon, 428 homes were destroyed and 50 damaged in the first three days of the ceasefire. At least 380 people have been killed since the ceasefire began, the UNHCR said.
"Although all displaced people are longing to return to their homes and thousands of families have tried to do so since the ceasefire, these movements are tentative, partial and often reversed," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR representative in Lebanon. "Many are testing whether it is safe to go back, only to find their homes destroyed, their neighbourhoods unsafe and basic services unavailable. Families flee, return briefly, then flee again – caught in repeated and exhausting cycles of uncertainty."
