A day after the worst sectarian violence in Beirut in more than a decade, an evil calm hung over the city on Friday with streets largely closed and government offices closed as militia groups started to bury their dead.
Gunfire briefly shot through areas that on Thursday were scenes of extreme fighting, but armed men were shooting into the air a defiant precursor to funerals that were due to start.
France, Russia, and other European and political leaders appealed for calm as shocked residents continued to reel from scenes reminiscent of the darkest days of the country s civil war. The clashes between Shia militiamen and gunman who fired from homes in largely Christian areas raised the spectre of a return to Lebanon's darkest days as financial collapse and political gridlock continue.
The tension has focused on a judicial inquiry into the massive 2020 explosion that destroyed much of Beirut port and nearby neighbourhoods. Hezbollah, the most dominant power in the country, has demanded the removal of the presiding judge, Tarek Bitar. Amal, another Hezbollah militia and Shia ally allied to Amal, joined the push. Both groups accused Bitar of disproportionately focusing on Sunni-Christian politicians, although he has also tried to question former Shia and Shia ministers.
The explosion destroyed Christian neighbourhoods, said Suha Haddad, a resident of the Mar Mikhael area, which was decimated by the huge explosion. I had 95 stitches, my entire body was covered in scars, she said. All Christian blocs condemned the fighting, although Hezbollah continued to insist that a Shia bloc had mobilised its members before a rally with hundreds of Lebanese demonstrators.
Lebanese Forces, a prominent Christian militia during the civil war, which retains influence among parts of the country's Christians, denied it had given instructions and accused Hezbollah of provocations.
With many Lebanonese demanding an end to the port blast and the immediate military impunity that has characterised the post-war years, the risk of further unrest remains high.
What an eye saw is that it is Shia Christians opposed Maronite Christians. There is a deadlock here, said Sami Awad, a resident in central Lebanon. It is partly about corruption which brought us to this point, but also about regional elements. It s very dangerous. The violence erupted with a financial collapse that has plunged much of Lebanon into poverty and the international community unwilling to offer aid until widespread financial reforms are introduced.
How to do that, or whether to do it at all remains another point of conflict. There isn t an MP in Lebanon who is not implicated in corruption, said a Beirut resident Hassan Mahmoud. Everybody fears the consequences of a magnifying glass in parliament and in the port.