Israeli strike in Ain Saade: Funeral for Pierre Moawad, his wife; LF turn to security forces
by L'Orient Today staff · L'Orient TodayBEIRUT — Well before the planned funeral for Pierre Moawad, a Lebanese Forces (LF) official killed in an Israeli strike Sunday night in Ain Saade, several processions were organized along the funeral convoy's route, notably in Burj Hammoud at the northern exit of Beirut.
While the LF had called on supporters to mobilize for a final tribute to the head of the party’s office in Yahshoush (Kesrouan), officials within the formation led by LF leader Samir Geagea urged their supporters "not to be drawn into impulsive reactions" and to allow security forces to handle the follow-up on the matter.
The unprecedented Israeli bombardment on the predominantly Christian locality of Ain Saade, whose target remains unidentified, killed three people — the Moawad couple and their neighbor — and sparked renewed sectarian tensions as well as tensions toward displaced people.
After a meeting of representatives from the Metn-North region of the Lebanese Forces, notably attended by MP Melhem Riachy, the party said it discussed "the risks related to the infiltration of suspicious individuals among civilians and in a number of residential apartments in different regions," calling on municipalities and security forces to take action. Nevertheless, it stressed the importance of "not being drawn into impulsive reactions" and the necessity of letting security forces handle the matter.
The funeral of Moawad and his wife Flavia Mourad will take place at 4 p.m. in Yahshoush. Prior to that, the funeral procession went to Dahr al-Bacheq hospital to collect the bodies, then to Ain Saade where the couple was killed, and finally to Burj Hammoud, in the north of Beirut. There, about a 100 people will await the arrival of the coffins in front of the LF center, beneath a large portrait of Moawad, to pay tribute to the deceased, according to our journalist on the scene, Lyana Alameddine.
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