Kahale residents, Hezbollah members summoned for interrogation over clash

Four residents of the town of Kahale have been summoned for interrogation over the latest deadly clash with Hezbollah members, MTV reported.

“The four Kahale residents will not go to the Baabda intelligence department on Friday because they are demanding that those who killed Fadi Bejjani be handed over first,” the TV network added.

A statement issued by Kahale’s municipality, residents and dignitaries meanwhile said “it is unacceptable for the investigation to begin with the questioning of the unarmed Kahale residents who were present there, instead of focusing on the armed group that opened its machine gun fire at them to terrorize them.”

“This is what the martyr Fadi Bejjani tried to repel,” the statement said, adding that the latter was killed by “the bullets of the armed civilians” and that “the evidence is clear with the presence of audiovisual footage.”

“The investigation is a duty to fulfill justice, but it should start somewhere else, seeing as the aggressor cannot be equated with the aggressed against,” the statement said.

OTV and MTV meanwhile reported that Hezbollah members have been interrogated by the army's intelligence directorate over the incident. OTV said those questioned were the truck's driver and his companion.

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel meanwhile said that the summoning of the Kahale residents is rejected, warning against “continuing to undermine equality among the Lebanese.”

“Beware that the judiciary become a false witness. We stand by Kahale’s sons, we support the stances issued by them and we will not remain silent over our rights,” Gemayel added.

Bejjani and Hezbollah member Ahmed Qassas, both of whom were armed according to videos, were killed in an exchange of gunfire earlier this month after a Hezbollah ammunition truck flipped over on the downhill curve of the international highway that passes through Kahale.

The incident started after some residents learned that the truck belonged to Hezbollah. They surrounded it and demanded to know what was inside before a fistfight ensued between two individuals. Footage available online also shows Hezbollah members opening fire and Kahale residents hurling rocks towards the overturned truck and its armed Hezbollah guards. Another video shows a short-distance exchange of gunfire between Hezbollah members and Fadi Bejjani, the Kahale man who was killed in the violence. The identity of the individual who fired the first shot is still unclear.