Members of the Lebanese armed forces search for evidence on 28 June 2013 following a road side bombing attack on trucks that were linked to Hezbollah early in the morning in the central city of Zahle in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley. (Photo: AFP - STR)
Lebanon is now engulfed by sheer madness. The Ramadan truce that was supposed to last until after Eid al-Fitr was broken by “limited” skirmishes and kidnappings in the northern Bekaa Valley. Beyond this, Eid brought with it major security incidents amid a political vacuum that does not seem likely to end in the near future.
Along the Beirut Airport Road, unknown assailants abducted two Turkish citizens, stirring up the issue of the Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Aazaz. The abduction occurred after Ankara went too far in insulting the Lebanese, pushing them to forget that Turkey sponsors the kidnappers of the Lebanese pilgrims.
Madness did not strike the Airport Road alone. In the Bekaa on Sunday, August 11, reconciliation efforts between Ersal and neighboring villages culminated with an armed ambush targeting Ersal’s Mayor Ali al-Houjeiri. Houjeiri, who is wanted for his alleged involvement in the murder of Lebanese army officers, survived the attack.
The ambush on Houjeiri’s convoy has reignited tension between Ersal and nearby villages, despite an earlier climate of optimism following the swap of hostage Youssef al-Mokdad with Ersal residents who had been taken hostage by the Mokdad clan.
Minutes after the hostage exchange in the town of Ras Baalbeck, Houjeiri’s convoy started moving in the direction of Labweh. According to a security source, the convoy was intercepted by four SUVs. The cars opened fire on the convoy, killing Mohammed Hassan al-Houjeiri. The mayor and Ali Zahwa al-Faliti suffered slight injuries, while Ahmad al-Houjeiri was critically wounded.
Hassan and Ahmad al-Houjeiri are notable figures of Ersal and have strong ties to most residents of the northern Bekaa. They were both closely involved in the efforts to resolve disputes that took place over the past few months between Ersal and surrounding areas, according to close associates of theirs who spoke to Al-Akhbar.
The mayor of Ersal claimed that the ambush was staged by the Jaafar and Amhaz clans. “After Mohammed al-Houjeiri is buried,” he said, “we will see what happens.” He added that the officials who contacted him asked for self-restraint, while army commander Jean Kawhaji pledged action would be taken to apprehend the perpetrators.
The incident sparked a wave of anger in Ersal, where gunmen descended to the streets, firing rounds in the air to protest the attack, after conflicting rumors spread about the mayor’s fate.
Two Syrian nationals were abducted on Sunday as well, including Mohammed Abbas, a prominent resident of the Syrian town of Falita, who had taken part in the efforts to secure Mokdad’s release. Then on Sunday evening, the Jaafar and Amhaz clans released the two Syrian hostages.
A group calling itself the “Four Martyrs Brigade” issued a statement claiming responsibility for Sunday’s ambush. The statement said that the people of Ersal must hand over the killers of Hamdi Karama Jaafar, Hussein Ali Jaafar, Ali Oglo, and Sharif Amhaz, who were killed in an ambush in Wadi Rafeq on the outskirts of Ras Baalbeck on 16 June 2013.
However, Yassin Jaafar, an elder of the Jaafar clan, denounced the incident that “hurt innocents,” as he told Al-Akhbar. Jaafar expressed his condolences for the families of Ersal for the death of Mohammed al-Houjeiri.
Jaafar objected to the accusations made by the mayor against the Jaafar and Amhaz clans, stressing that the Jaafar clan knows well who killed their relatives. Jaafar said, “We will avenge those and will never abandon our quest, but it is not our habit to murder innocents. The best evidence is that after the Wadi Rafeq massacre [we did not kill] the residents of Ersal we were detaining. If we were barbarians we would have killed them, but we did what our customs dictate and we released them. We are still counting on the army and the security services to bring us justice, and we are dedicated to the homeland and are not advocates of strife.”
In turn, sources close to the mayor of Ersal said that the assailants were closely linked to Syrian intelligence, which wants to exact revenge against the town for its support of the Syrian revolution. Other residents of Ersal said that the motives behind the ambush should not be overstated, because there were reports confirming involvement of members of the Jaafar clan.
In the meantime, young men in Mraijat, the hometown of slain Lebanese army officer Pierre Machaalani, distributed sweets and fired rounds in the air to celebrate the ambush. At the same time, the towns of Majdal Anjar and Saadnayel saw extensive contacts aimed at de-escalating the situation, following reports of gunmen gearing up for action in the two towns.
According to a leader in the Future Movement in the central Bekaa, the movement’s leadership notified them of a request made by former prime minister Saad Hariri to prevent any attempt to block roads, antagonize the army, or clash with other political factions. He said, “We do not want strife, and we must be like a safety valve, no matter how much others want to escalate matters.”
In the wake of the ambush, army units deployed heavily along the international highway in the northern Bekaa. On Sunday night, the army raided homes belonging to members of the Amhaz clan in Labweh, including the home of Sharif Amhaz, who had been killed in Wadi Rafeq, and the home of his father Youssef Amhaz.
The mayor of Labweh, Ramez Amhaz, did not object to these measures, but protested what he called double standards by the army, which allows a fugitive to move freely, in reference to Ali Houjeiri. “The Amhaz clan does not murder innocents,” he said, noting that “the killers of our sons are well known to us, and when we want to kill them, we will not harm innocents.”
Prior to the ambush, the town of Maqneh welcomed back its resident Youssef Mokdad, who was kidnapped 10 days earlier in Ersal, to the tune of celebratory gunfire. Mokdad said that he had been taken to Maara inside Syrian territory. Mokdad was visibly fatigued.
His family had been promised his release on Saturday night. At dawn on Sunday, he was brought to the home of the Ersal mayor. Youssef Mokdad said that he was beaten in the beginning, but a person called Abu Baker later intervened to prevent the beatings.
Mokdad said that the kidnappers had “long beards,” and asked him questions about his relationship with Hezbollah. Mokdad added that the kidnappers’ goal was to “instigate sedition between Ersal and nearby villages.”
For his part, the mayor of Ersal stressed the need to “put an end to kidnappings and not give any cover to thugs, because the entire area is affected.” Domar Mokdad, speaking on behalf of his clan, then proclaimed that “strife has been buried today,” stressing that “coexistence is sacrosanct.”
The efforts of Ersal’s residents and notables to secure Mokdad’s release were clear. To this end, they blocked all roads leading to Syrian villages, and even kidnapped someone close to Mokdad’s abductors to put pressure on them. Sheikh Mohammed Abbas, a notable resident of the town of Falita, paid $25,000 to the kidnappers to release Mokdad. In return for these efforts, the Mokdad clan released the 10 hostages in their possession, handing them over to their families and notables of Ersal, and Maara and Rankous in Syria.
Not far from these events, an armed Syrian group kidnapped three Lebanese nationals from Ayn al-Qaraqouz on the outskirts of Brital (6 km into Lebanese territory), who were identified as Abbas Ismail, his brother Hassan, and their Syrian cousin Ali Adnan, who was wounded during the abduction, while Ibrahim Hikmat Ismail managed to escape. Intensive contacts and mediation efforts ensued between Brital and neighboring Syrian villages resulted in promises to release the three young men by Saturday night. However, this has yet to happen.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Along the Beirut Airport Road, unknown assailants abducted two Turkish citizens, stirring up the issue of the Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Aazaz. The abduction occurred after Ankara went too far in insulting the Lebanese, pushing them to forget that Turkey sponsors the kidnappers of the Lebanese pilgrims.
Madness did not strike the Airport Road alone. In the Bekaa on Sunday, August 11, reconciliation efforts between Ersal and neighboring villages culminated with an armed ambush targeting Ersal’s Mayor Ali al-Houjeiri. Houjeiri, who is wanted for his alleged involvement in the murder of Lebanese army officers, survived the attack.
The ambush on Houjeiri’s convoy has reignited tension between Ersal and nearby villages, despite an earlier climate of optimism following the swap of hostage Youssef al-Mokdad with Ersal residents who had been taken hostage by the Mokdad clan.
Minutes after the hostage exchange in the town of Ras Baalbeck, Houjeiri’s convoy started moving in the direction of Labweh. According to a security source, the convoy was intercepted by four SUVs. The cars opened fire on the convoy, killing Mohammed Hassan al-Houjeiri. The mayor and Ali Zahwa al-Faliti suffered slight injuries, while Ahmad al-Houjeiri was critically wounded.
Hassan and Ahmad al-Houjeiri are notable figures of Ersal and have strong ties to most residents of the northern Bekaa. They were both closely involved in the efforts to resolve disputes that took place over the past few months between Ersal and surrounding areas, according to close associates of theirs who spoke to Al-Akhbar.
The mayor of Ersal claimed that the ambush was staged by the Jaafar and Amhaz clans. “After Mohammed al-Houjeiri is buried,” he said, “we will see what happens.” He added that the officials who contacted him asked for self-restraint, while army commander Jean Kawhaji pledged action would be taken to apprehend the perpetrators.
The incident sparked a wave of anger in Ersal, where gunmen descended to the streets, firing rounds in the air to protest the attack, after conflicting rumors spread about the mayor’s fate.
Two Syrian nationals were abducted on Sunday as well, including Mohammed Abbas, a prominent resident of the Syrian town of Falita, who had taken part in the efforts to secure Mokdad’s release. Then on Sunday evening, the Jaafar and Amhaz clans released the two Syrian hostages.
A group calling itself the “Four Martyrs Brigade” issued a statement claiming responsibility for Sunday’s ambush. The statement said that the people of Ersal must hand over the killers of Hamdi Karama Jaafar, Hussein Ali Jaafar, Ali Oglo, and Sharif Amhaz, who were killed in an ambush in Wadi Rafeq on the outskirts of Ras Baalbeck on 16 June 2013.
However, Yassin Jaafar, an elder of the Jaafar clan, denounced the incident that “hurt innocents,” as he told Al-Akhbar. Jaafar expressed his condolences for the families of Ersal for the death of Mohammed al-Houjeiri.
Jaafar objected to the accusations made by the mayor against the Jaafar and Amhaz clans, stressing that the Jaafar clan knows well who killed their relatives. Jaafar said, “We will avenge those and will never abandon our quest, but it is not our habit to murder innocents. The best evidence is that after the Wadi Rafeq massacre [we did not kill] the residents of Ersal we were detaining. If we were barbarians we would have killed them, but we did what our customs dictate and we released them. We are still counting on the army and the security services to bring us justice, and we are dedicated to the homeland and are not advocates of strife.”
In turn, sources close to the mayor of Ersal said that the assailants were closely linked to Syrian intelligence, which wants to exact revenge against the town for its support of the Syrian revolution. Other residents of Ersal said that the motives behind the ambush should not be overstated, because there were reports confirming involvement of members of the Jaafar clan.
In the meantime, young men in Mraijat, the hometown of slain Lebanese army officer Pierre Machaalani, distributed sweets and fired rounds in the air to celebrate the ambush. At the same time, the towns of Majdal Anjar and Saadnayel saw extensive contacts aimed at de-escalating the situation, following reports of gunmen gearing up for action in the two towns.
According to a leader in the Future Movement in the central Bekaa, the movement’s leadership notified them of a request made by former prime minister Saad Hariri to prevent any attempt to block roads, antagonize the army, or clash with other political factions. He said, “We do not want strife, and we must be like a safety valve, no matter how much others want to escalate matters.”
In the wake of the ambush, army units deployed heavily along the international highway in the northern Bekaa. On Sunday night, the army raided homes belonging to members of the Amhaz clan in Labweh, including the home of Sharif Amhaz, who had been killed in Wadi Rafeq, and the home of his father Youssef Amhaz.
The mayor of Labweh, Ramez Amhaz, did not object to these measures, but protested what he called double standards by the army, which allows a fugitive to move freely, in reference to Ali Houjeiri. “The Amhaz clan does not murder innocents,” he said, noting that “the killers of our sons are well known to us, and when we want to kill them, we will not harm innocents.”
Prior to the ambush, the town of Maqneh welcomed back its resident Youssef Mokdad, who was kidnapped 10 days earlier in Ersal, to the tune of celebratory gunfire. Mokdad said that he had been taken to Maara inside Syrian territory. Mokdad was visibly fatigued.
His family had been promised his release on Saturday night. At dawn on Sunday, he was brought to the home of the Ersal mayor. Youssef Mokdad said that he was beaten in the beginning, but a person called Abu Baker later intervened to prevent the beatings.
Mokdad said that the kidnappers had “long beards,” and asked him questions about his relationship with Hezbollah. Mokdad added that the kidnappers’ goal was to “instigate sedition between Ersal and nearby villages.”
For his part, the mayor of Ersal stressed the need to “put an end to kidnappings and not give any cover to thugs, because the entire area is affected.” Domar Mokdad, speaking on behalf of his clan, then proclaimed that “strife has been buried today,” stressing that “coexistence is sacrosanct.”
The efforts of Ersal’s residents and notables to secure Mokdad’s release were clear. To this end, they blocked all roads leading to Syrian villages, and even kidnapped someone close to Mokdad’s abductors to put pressure on them. Sheikh Mohammed Abbas, a notable resident of the town of Falita, paid $25,000 to the kidnappers to release Mokdad. In return for these efforts, the Mokdad clan released the 10 hostages in their possession, handing them over to their families and notables of Ersal, and Maara and Rankous in Syria.
Not far from these events, an armed Syrian group kidnapped three Lebanese nationals from Ayn al-Qaraqouz on the outskirts of Brital (6 km into Lebanese territory), who were identified as Abbas Ismail, his brother Hassan, and their Syrian cousin Ali Adnan, who was wounded during the abduction, while Ibrahim Hikmat Ismail managed to escape. Intensive contacts and mediation efforts ensued between Brital and neighboring Syrian villages resulted in promises to release the three young men by Saturday night. However, this has yet to happen.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.