U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Friday said the embassy was “not intimidated” by a gunman’s shots towards its entrance earlier this week and that Lebanese authorities were investigating the incident.
Late Wednesday, shots were fired near the U.S. embassy north of Beirut. Embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson said no one had been hurt and normal business operations were ongoing.
“We know that authorities are investigating this incident, whereby a gunman fired shots toward the U.S. embassy the other night,” U.S. ambassador Dorothy Shea said on Friday after meeting Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati.
“Please know that we at the U.S. embassy are not intimidated by this incident, and our security protocols are very strong and our partnerships are ironclad,” she said.
Mikati also condemned what he described as an “attack on the American embassy”. There was no claim of responsibility for the gunfire and authorities have not provided details on the investigation.
The highly secured U.S. embassy lies north of Beirut in the town of Awkar. Security incidents around it are rare. The embassy moved there from Beirut following a suicide attack in 1983 which killed more than 60 people. Iran and its newly formed proxy Hezbollah were accused of being behind the attack.
Fingures pointed at Hezbollah
Phalange party leader MP Sami Gemayel on Thursday said that Hezbollah was behind an alleged security incident near the southern town of Ain Ebel and the shooting on the U.S. Embassy in Awkar.
“From Ain Ebel to Awkar, yesterday witnessed two dangerous incidents that reveal an intention for escalation on the ground by those who are destroying the republic,” Gemayel said in a post on the X platform, in reference to Hezbollah.
Ain Ebel is where Elias Hasrouni a key member of the Lebanese Forces was killed. LF leader samir Geagea also accused Hezbollah of mmurdering him.
Similarly former MP Fares Soueid , Secretariat General Coordinator of the March 14 Alliance, the movement behind the ending of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 2005, accused Hezbollah of being behind the attack.
He was quoted as saying : “The US embassy is surrounded by 2 security zones . The first one is controlled by the Lebanese army and the second one is controlled by the US embassy . No one can breach both security zones except Hezbollah ”
Reuters/ News agencies
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