On Sunday evening, Hezbollah organized armed motorized convoys in Saida and Maghdoucheh in southern Lebanon, as well as in various areas of Beirut, including Ain Mraisseh, Sakiet al-Janzeer, Furn el-Chebbak, Burj Hammoud and Gemmayzeh, to celebrate the return of displaced persons to border villages by the deadline for Israel's withdrawal under the ceasefire agreement.
The convoys marched at the end of a bloody day in southern Lebanon, marked by attempts by displaced persons to return to some sixty villages despite injunctions from the Lebanese army and Israeli bans. These attempts resulted in the deaths of 22 people, in addition to 124 wounded, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Public Health's Emergency Operations Center.
Witnesses reported that participants in the various convoys were armed, shouted provocative slogans, and fired point-blank into the heart of residential areas, spreading panic among residents.
The Lebanese army intervened to put an end to a clash in Ain el-Remmaneh between young people on motorcycles from the southern suburbs and others from the region. The incident degenerated into clashes and shouting following provocative chants.
The daily An-Nahar also reports that a clash took place on Sunday evening in the main street of the southern Lebanese town of Maghdoucheh, between a number of young men and a procession of Hezbollah and Amal supporters waving flags of both parties and chanting “Shiite Shiite,” causing friction between the two sides. A Lebanese army force intervened after a number of armed men gathered at the eastern entrance to the town, on the Anqoun side.
Hezbollah reportedly called on its supporters to demonstrate in motorized convoys in Beirut's southern suburbs and various regions to celebrate the “victory forged by the blood of martyrs,” particularly that of “supreme martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah”.
Dozens of vehicles waving Hezbollah flags paraded through the heart of Gemmayzeh. On social networks, many described this “parade,” organized at the end of the 60-day ceasefire agreement, as “provocative.”
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