An army truck reopened the Kahaleh road on Thursday morning after it was blocked by angry local residents. (Credit: Stéphanie Khouri)
BEIRUT — At least four people — all residents of Kahaleh — were summoned on Friday by the military court for investigation following a clash earlier this month that killed a local resident and a Hezbollah member, the town's mokhtar confirmed to L'Orient Today.
On Aug. 9, two people were killed in an exchange of fire between Hezbollah members and residents of the majority-Christian village of Kahaleh after a truck belonging to Hezbollah overturned in the area. Hezbollah said in a later statement that the truck contained munitions and was accompanied by one of its cars.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah later stated that the convoy included three to five people. Both sides in the clash have accused each other of instigating the deadly gunfight.
The Lebanese army subsequently seized the contents of the truck.
A Lebanese army spokesperson could not confirm the number of people who were summoned so far for the incident.
A Hezbollah spokesperson told L'Orient Today on Friday that they had "no information" about whether any Hezbollah members had been summoned so far by the court. "I expect that the four [Hezbollah] members who were involved will be summoned," the spokesperson added.
The municipality of Kahaleh, along with some of its residents and local authorities, released a statement on Friday condemning the summoning of its residents. "It is not acceptable that the investigation starts with unarmed individuals who were present ... instead of concentrating on the armed group which opened fire with their automatic weapons to try to intimidate them."
"The investigation is a duty for justice but it shouldn't start from the wrong place in which the assault is the same as those who were attacked," the statement added.
Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel retweeted the municipality's statement, adding that "the summoning of the residents of Kahaleh who were assaulted in their area is rejected. Watch out for destroying equality between the Lebanese and watch out for dragging the judiciary to become a false witness. We stand with the residents of Kahaleh and support the stances issued by them and will not be silent for justice."