Clashes are still underway between the new Syrian authorities and Lebanese clans, this Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (Credit: Sarah Abdallah/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Three people were injured on Friday in Qanafed, a locality at the Lebanese-Syrian border, following the entry of the new Syrian security forces (formerly Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham). For a second day, clashes are pitting these forces against Lebanese residents, reported our regional correspondent.
The deployment of these Syrian forces near Qanafed has spurred mobilization among Lebanese clans in the region, and families from Hermel, calling to “defend their territories.” Among the injured, two are from the Jaafar family and another belongs to the Rashini family.
Since Thursday, incidents have multiplied along the border area located in northern Hermel. Earlier on Friday, four other people were injured by Syrian artillery fire on the border village of Jarmash. Two rockets, fired from Syrian territory, successively fell on the outskirts of the Lebanese village Kouwakh, in the Hermel district.
Facing the escalation, the families, clans and residents of northern Bekaa have urged the state to intervene with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to "protect Lebanon's sovereignty" and defuse tensions. They denounced a “total and unjustified abandonment” by the authorities, stating they have no choice but to “defend Lebanon and their lands” themselves.
On Thursday, an incident between the new security forces of Damascus and Lebanese from the Zaiter and Jaafar clans, in border villages in Syria inhabited by Lebanese had escalated increasingly throughout the day, according to several sources contacted by our correspondent in Bekaa, Sarah Abdallah, and local media. These clashes have resulted in at least two deaths. In the evening, information from our correspondent reported the release of several Syrian security forces agents who had been abducted by Lebanese clans.
After the fall of the Assad regime, the HTS was dissolved by its leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who became interim president, giving rise to the new Syrian forces. The Lebanese clans, notably the Zaiter and the Jaafar, wield considerable influence in these border areas, where the state's presence is less perceptible than elsewhere, across a porous border open to all kinds of incidents and smuggling.