Police officers deployed in a street in Tripoli, North Lebanon, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Credit: Archive photo provided by our correspondent Michel Hallak)
The police "will be on the lookout" for people engaging in celebratory gunfire during the festive season, Lebanon's caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Thursday. Mawlawi assured that the perpetrators of such gunfire "will be judged by the competent judicary," before going on to detail planned deployments of security forces for Christmas Eve.
Officers, agents, patrols
At a press conference following a meeting of the Central Security Council, Mawlawi said that "the security forces will be present to ensure security on Christmas Eve."
"There will be 462 officers, 6,872 agents and 292 patrols deployed for that night," he elaborated, according to remarks reported by several local media outlets.
Mawlawi emphasized that the practice of shooting in the air "constitutes a crime."
"The security forces will remain on the lookout for those who fire randomly, and offenders will be tried by the competent justice system, as this phenomenon is dangerous and harms both the country's reputation and its citizens," he said.
Each year in Lebanon, where the carrying of weapons is largely unregulated, stray bullets — often the result of people shooting in the air to mark notable occasions — cause injuries and claim lives. .
Security in the south
The minister also spoke briefly about the situation in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since Oct. 8.
"We tell the people of the south that the whole of Lebanon is with them," he said.