Church bells and gunfire echoed across a Lebanese valley on Tuesday as hundreds gathered for the funeral of Pierre Mouawad, a Christian party official known for opposing Hezbollah, and his wife. They were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday in the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hezbollah militant, but the circumstances remain unclear.
Mouawad was a member of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party that has long called for Hezbollah's disarmament and blamed the group for dragging Lebanon into war with Israel. The party holds the largest bloc in parliament and has four ministers in the government. The strike has heightened tensions in a country already deeply divided over the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Since the war resumed last month, over 1,530 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, and more than one million have been displaced, mostly from Shiite-majority areas. The displacement has caused friction in Christian, Sunni, and Druze communities, where residents fear Hezbollah members may be hiding among civilians.
At the funeral in Yahshoush, north of Beirut, Lebanese Forces legislator Pierre Bou Assi declared, 'They died because Hezbollah dragged us into a war,' calling it 'an Iranian decision with Hezbollah's implementation.' The Lebanese military is investigating the incident, and the government has banned Hezbollah's military activity, but the strike has exacerbated fears among those who thought they would be spared.
Pierre Mouawad's brother, Raymond, expressed anger that the intended target had not been killed instead, saying, 'My brother died while he escaped.' The landlord and local officials said no one was living in the apartment above the Mouawads, but relatives insist someone was there, putting others at risk.
