Destruction caused by a strike launched from Syria onto the Lebanese border village of Qasr on March 20. (Credit: Emmanuel Haddad/L’Orient-Le Jour)
It's almost noon on March 20 in Qasr, a Hermel-district village bordering Syria, when the stormy air is pierced by gunfire. In a plush living room where a portrait of his ancestor sits beside that of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, framed by a display of antiquated rifles, Nizar Jaafar shows no concern: “It must be shots fired in the air during the funeral of Hajj Hassan's son,” the school teacher says.Four days earlier, on March 16, three Syrian soldiers were killed in Hermel, sparking renewed cross-border clashes between regional clans and the new Syrian forces about a month after the last bout of fighting was quelled. The next day, the Lebanese Army intervened with heavy artillery and a cease-fire took effect that same evening, ushering in a tenuous calm.It was during those clashes that Hajj Hassan, the mayor of Hoch...
It's almost noon on March 20 in Qasr, a Hermel-district village bordering Syria, when the stormy air is pierced by gunfire. In a plush living room where a portrait of his ancestor sits beside that of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, framed by a display of antiquated rifles, Nizar Jaafar shows no concern: “It must be shots fired in the air during the funeral of Hajj Hassan's son,” the school teacher says.Four days earlier, on March 16, three Syrian soldiers were killed in Hermel, sparking renewed cross-border clashes between regional clans and the new Syrian forces about a month after the last bout of fighting was quelled. The next day, the Lebanese Army intervened with heavy artillery and a cease-fire took effect that same evening, ushering in a tenuous calm.It was during those clashes that Hajj Hassan, the mayor of Hoch...