Screenshot of a video of the incident circulating on social media
BEIRUT — Several roads in Beirut were blocked around 6 p.m. on Saturday as angry residents used garbage bins and burning tires to protest an incident involving State Security officers.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he had given “strict orders to open an immediate investigation” to clarify what happened and hold those responsible accountable. He stressed that “acts of violence by security agents against civilians, and firing into the air to frighten residents, are unacceptable behavior regardless of the reasons.”
A State Security source told L’Orient-Le Jour that officers had received instructions days earlier to arrest violators in supermarkets and near private generators. The man involved, the source said, was wanted under an arrest warrant for unjustified price increases.
According to the same source, the suspect resisted arrest, prompting nearby residents to intervene and try to protect him. Officers then fired shots into the air to defend themselves and disperse the crowd. The suspect managed to flee, and the arrest operation failed. No injuries were reported, and an investigation has been launched under the supervision of the prosecutor’s office.
Some roads were temporarily blocked during the evening but were later reopened following an appeal by Salam, who urged Beirut residents “to show patience.”
The incident triggered strong reactions. Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said that “all Beirut residents affirm their respect for the law,” while stressing the importance of maintaining security and stability in the capital under the current circumstances.
In an attempt to defuse the anger of Sunni officials and leaders following a heavy-handed arrest that sparked a popular protest in the Saqiet al-Janzir neighborhood of southern Beirut, senior State Security officer Mohammad Chreim was summoned by the government commissioner attached to the military court to appear before Judge Claude Ghanem on Monday, according the Markazia news agency. This body has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident, in which Chreim is accused of ordering the arrest of a private generator operator in the Saqiet al-Janzir neighborhood and which for several hours raised fears of security and sectarian unrest.
According to reports from several media outlets, including Modon, four of the officers involved in the case have already been questioned and released on bail.
Sergeant Chreim was called to account by several Sunni figures, who accuse him of orchestrating this heavy-handed raid to arrest Hassane Itani, a man suspected of charging inflated rates for supplying electricity to his customers. It was during this arrest, in which, according to videos, the operator was pinned to the ground, that local residents attempted to intervene, prompting the officers to fire into the air to disperse them. These shots sparked a wave of public anger in the Sunni neighborhood and led to the brief closure of roads in the surrounding districts of Corniche al-Mazraa and Verdun, with rubbish bins and burning tires used to block the way. Angry residents denounced an “attack on the dignity of the people of Beirut.”
In a statement released on Saturday evening, State Security confirmed that it had sought to arrest Itani, who was “in breach of the law and had failed to report to the headquarters of the Directorate of Intelligence and Special Operations to complete the legal proceedings brought against him.” It stated that, upon arriving at the scene, it had been “intercepted by a number of citizens who prevented the mission from being carried out, forcing officers to fire shots into the air to disperse them, without causing any injuries.”
'We will not accept another May 7'
The country’s mufti, Abdellatif Deriane, contacted both the prime minister and the director general of State Security, General Edgar Lawandos, calling for an immediate investigation into the incident.
Lawandos is reported to have held several meetings with Sunni leaders to prevent any escalation, whilst the incident sparked fears of communal tensions for a few hours. Sunni leaders have accused Hezbollah of being behind the arrest and the use of firearms by State Security.
The Secretary-General of the Future Movement, Ahmad Hariri, questioned whether “certain elements within the security services have turned into a militia and decided to play with the fire of tensions” in order to “undermine stability” in the country. Hariri called for the arrest of Chreim, who reportedly originates from the Shia community.
The former MP for Beirut, Roula Tabsh, a member of the Future Movement, condemned the “terror inflicted on residents” and an “attack carried out by armed, hooded elements belonging to a security service, as if they were raiding a terrorist hideout.” “We will not accept another May 7; that era is over,” she added, referring to the clashes of May 7, 2008, when Hezbollah militiamen stormed the streets of Beirut against a backdrop of political and security crisis.
In a reference also to Hezbollah’s alleged involvement in the incident, Ibrahim Mneimneh, MP for Beirut, suggested on X that Saturday’s incident was intended to “thwart the plan to disarm” the Lebanese capital, as decided by the official authorities.
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