Army cordons off Arab neighborhood in Saadiyat after dispute leaves two wounded

BEIRUT — The Lebanese army cordoned off the Arab neighborhood in Saadiyat area after a personal dispute in Saadiyat, along Beirut’s southern coast which left two people wounded, on Saturday, our correspondent in the south reported Sunday.

This comes after social media claims that troops had surrounded a Hezbollah-affiliated prayer hall. The incident left two people wounded, according to L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the South, who said it "stemmed from longstanding personal disputes."

The wounded were transferred to Saida Governmental Hospital last night, according to our correspondent.

"Army troops had cordoned off the Arab neighborhood in Saadiyat, not the prayer hall specifically," according to our correspondent. The Lebanese army told L’Orient Today it had no further information on the incident. Hezbollah had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

The Saadiyat incident comes against the backdrop of previous tensions involving members of the Arab tribes in the nearby Khaldeh area and Hezbollah supporters. In August 2021, armed clashes erupted in Khaldeh after gunmen ambushed the funeral procession of Hezbollah member Ali Chebli, who had been shot dead at a wedding days earlier.

Reporting contributed by L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah