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The Lebanese army has fired tear gas to Hizbollah supporters protesting against an Iranian flight, banning from landing in Beirut as tensions increased between government and militant Shia group.
Hizbollah supporters blocked the roads leading to Beir Airport on Friday and Saturday, but the Leban government said he decided to prevent the plane from landing over fear that Israel could hit the airport.
The Israeli army had accused Tehran of using civilian planes to smuggle money to help arming militants.
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hizbollah MP, accused the army of “unjustified attack… On women and children who were protesting peacefully. , injuring 23 soldiers.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, linked to elite revolutionary guards, said on Sunday that Hizbollah protests were “an ultimatum for the new Lebanese government, which has followed directives from the US Embassy to obstruct” Sad Hizbullah Leader Hasan’s funeral Hassan Nasrallah, scheduled for February 23.
Friction comes while Hizbollah coils backed by Iran from its weakened position in the Government of Lebanon, with the party mainly removed after a new administration was appointed this year. His conflict with Israel has also reduced the group’s military wing.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah will enter a new phase with the withdrawal of Israeli troops on Tuesday. Israel has shown that it can hold some strategic positions within Lebanon.
The leader of Hizbollah Naim Qassem insisted that Israel should be withdrawn from all areas in southern Lebanon until the deadline.
Israeli’s defense forces killed a woman and injured several others in the southern Lebanese village of Houula while residents were returning to the area on Sunday, according to the state -run news agency in Lebanon. IDF did not comment on the incident.
Following a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Hizbollah should be disarmed. should do to implement the meanings of the ceasefire. “
As the protesters gathered on Friday, a UN peacekeeping column was attacked to Beir Airport. A vehicle was set on fire and the deputy commander of the force was injured, the Unifil mission said in Lebanon.
The US State Department said the attack “is reported by a group of Hizbollah supporters”. Hizbollah and Amal, a Movement of Allied Shia, both condemned the incident, for which dozens of people have been arrested.
Hizbollah urged the military to open an investigation into the treatment of protesters and called on the Lebanese state to defend peaceful demonstrations and allow Iranian planes to land.
The protesters gathered after the Lebanese government revoked the permission for a passenger plane to fly from Tehrani to Beir on Thursday, leaving dozens of Lebanese travelers, many of whom are pilgrims, trapped.
The decision to block the flight came after the Israeli army on Wednesday accused Iran of trying to smuggle money to arm Hizbollah on civil flights at Beirut Airport.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the plane had been threatened, although it did not provide details of the threat.
Iranian civil aviation organization said the Lebanese authorities had demanded that Iranian flights to their airport be suspended until February 18, the date of the ceasefire, due to the security conditions in Beirut.
Lebanese officials have proposed the behavior of passengers at home to the national carrier of Lebanon through a third place, but Iran has refused, insisting on Iranian flights to be allowed.
“You can’t cancel Iran’s flights and replace them with Lebanese flights,” Mojana Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, told Friday. “This issue can be resolved provided Iranian flights resume.”
