The Christian village of Rmeish, South Lebanon, Oct. 31, 2023. (Credit: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
BEIRUT — A fight erupted on Tuesday between a citizen of the southern Lebanese border village of Rmeish (Bint Jbeil district) and a group of Hezbollah members after the latter tried to install a missile launcher in the area, according to local media outlets. The argument escalated as several other residents of Rmeish joined in, in support of the initial intervenor.
Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in near-daily fighting since Oct. 8, the day after the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza. Rmeish is one of around a dozen Christian villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border in primarily Shi'ite Muslim southern Lebanon.
In Rmeish, members of Hezbollah were preparing to install a missile launcher in the village when a resident caught wind of the operation and intervened, objecting to the operation. More residents joined in and the situation escalated to the point where the Hezbollah members started firing bullets into the air while the residents rang the bell of a church in the village.
A resident of Rmeish provided details of the fight to al-Markaziya news agency, saying: "At around 9:00 a.m., residents ... of Rmeish were alerted to the strange movement of two unmarked civilian cars driving around their neighborhoods, specifically near the Rmeish High School ... a person approached one of the [cars] and realized that there were people placing a Kornet missile platform in this area."
Meanwhile, the president of the municipality of Rmeish, Milad al-Alam, told local media outlet al-Nashra that the fight occurred when a group of people "wanted to launch missiles towards Israel from inside a residential neighborhood where they were intercepted by one of the residents."
Alam also told al-Hurra TV channel that the Hezbollah members ended up firing missiles on Tuesday after moving to a pine forest in the village, adding that the forest is located not far from the residents' houses.
He said that the Hezbollah members fired missiles from the village and then left, while the residents "gathered for a short time, rang the bells and left too."
"We are fed up with the theories ... and denunciations by officials, politicians, and party heads," said another Rmeish resident to al-Markazia. "Their words do not help, what is required is for the state's security and military agencies to act because the area is exposed and our lives are at stake."
A number of politicians expressed their solidarity with the people of Rmeish, including the leader of the Kataeb party Samy Gemayel.
Moreover, National Bloc Secretary General Michel Helou expressed his solidarity "with the people of Rmeish and all the villages that Hezbollah used as a missile launching pad for a war that no one wants in Lebanon."
Similar arguments have occurred in Rmeish before. In July 2022, a fight occurred between Remeish residents and Hezbollah members, and shots were fired. At the time, people living in Rmeich often cut down trees in the area in order to sell or store wood, after which members of the NGO Green without Borders, known for its affiliation with Hezbollah, chased them away.