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37 minutes ago
Red Cross confirms five dead and several injured
Lebanese security forces react to the shooting during a protest in Beirut on October 14.
(Photo:
According to the Lebanese Red Cross, five people have been confirmed dead and more than 30 have been injured in the acts of violence that occurred this Thursday in Beirut.
The intense shooting continues, hours after it initially broke out as Hezbollah supporters headed for a rally calling for the removal of the judge leading the investigation into the 2020 port explosion.
40 minutes ago
The violence comes amid an investigation that has shaken the Lebanese elite
This image taken on August 5, 2020 shows the aftermath of a large explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon.
(Photo: Daniel Carde / Getty Images)
The acts of violence on Thursday came before a protest calling for the removal of a judge whose investigation into last year's port explosion has shocked the Lebanese political elite.
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese political and militant group, has staunchly opposed Tarek Bitar, the popular judge leading the investigation into the Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people last August.
Since his appointment to the investigation in February, Bitar has sought out senior political and security officials for questioning.
This week, Bitar issued an arrest warrant for former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior official with the Hezbollah ally Amal party.
Bitar has also issued arrest warrants against lawmaker Nouhad Machnouk, an ally of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and a former Interior Minister.
Bitar, who also heads the Beirut criminal court, is the second judicial investigator to lead the port's investigation.
The first judge in charge of the investigation was removed from office after two former government ministers charged in the investigation successfully filed a motion for his removal.
Several legal petitions by prosecuted officials to remove Bitar have been unsuccessful.
During a televised speech on Monday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah rebuked the judge, accusing him of being "politicized."
Beirut