People carry the coffins of Pierre Moawad, a Lebanese Forces party official, and his wife Flavia, killed in an Israeli airstrike on their apartment Sunday night in Ain Saade, east of Beirut. Lebanon, April 7, 2026. (Credit: Yara Nardi/Reuters)
Well before the funeral planned for Pierre Moawad, a Lebanese Forces (LF) official killed in an Israeli airstrike Sunday evening in Ain Saade, several processions were organized as the funeral cortege passed by, notably in Burj Hammoud, on the northern outskirts of Beirut.
While the LF called for a mobilization of supporters to pay their final respects to the head of the party's office in Yahshoush (Kesrouan), where the funeral was to take place at 4 p.m., officials within the party led by Samir Geagea urged their supporters "not to be drawn into impulsive reactions" and to let the security forces handle the matter.
The unprecedented Israeli bombing of the predominantly Christian town of Ain Saade, whose target was still unidentified, killed three people — the Moawad couple and their neighbor — and sparked renewed sectarian tensions, particularly against displaced persons. "This war is not ours," said one of the victims. “And we have a martyr because of this,” exclaimed Johnny, a friend of the official, to our reporter Lyana Alameddine, who was on the scene.
Like him, about a 100 people were waiting for the coffins to arrive in front of the LF headquarters, beneath a large portrait of Pierre Moawad. When the coffins appeared amidst fireworks, the party supporters began to march, their anger palpable. “Hezbollah, terrorists!” the procession chanted repeatedly, even as the causes of the tragedy remained unclear.
Following a meeting of representatives from the Metn-North region of the LF, including MP Melhem Riachy, the LF stated that they had discussed the "risks associated with the infiltration of suspicious elements among civilians and in a number of residential apartments in various areas," calling on municipalities and security forces to take action. They nevertheless emphasized the importance of "not being drawn into impulsive reactions" and the need to allow the security forces to investigate the matter.
The Lebanese Army said Tuesday that it is continuing investigations into the circumstances of the attack and called on the public to refrain from speculation on sensitive security matters. It added that the person seen leaving the building on a motorcycle before the strike was a delivery worker. The army had also said the targeted apartment had not been rented at the time of the strike.
