A disturbance broke out in an occupied building, in Beirutwhere families fleeing Israeli bombings took refuge when police tried to evacuate by force, according to an AFP journalist.
The building located on the busy street of Hamra in the city center, it was abandoned before being occupied by several families, some of them from the southern suburbs of Beirutstrength of Hezbollah which has been the target of heavy Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks.
After a complaint from the building’s owners, a court decision ordered their eviction.
Clashes broke out in front of the building between the police and the army, on one side, and displaced people, on the other, with the latter setting fire to rubbish bins and throwing objects at the forces of order, according to AFP images.
“They attacked, as if it were Israel attacking its enemies”
Security forces “suddenly stormed the building, as if it were Israel attacking its enemies, and not as if there were Lebanese on both sides,” complained Amal, who fled the southern suburbs with her parents because of of Israeli bombings.
“They wanted to take us out by force. When a door was closed, they broke it,” he added.
The security forces “came in, they started screaming, the women were screaming,” said Lara, an 18-year-old girl who was also inside the occupied building with her family. “We had nowhere to go.”
After the riots, the Public Ministry decided to give families another 48 hours to vacate the premises, according to authorities.
The escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, which began almost a month agoyes, it displaced a million people in a country of almost six million inhabitants.
Tens of thousands of people flocked to the capital, filling schools, relatives’ homes or apartments. Displaced people entered empty buildings by breaching their entrances.
Minister of the Interior, Bassam al-Mawlawi promised today to take “emergency measures” put an end to “any violation of public and private property in Beirut”.
Source: AMPE