Mourners Bury Lebanese Forces Official Amid Rising Tensions Over Cross-Border Strikes

In a mountain church near Beirut, grief turned to fury on Tuesday as Raymonda Mouawad buried her brother, Pierre—a local official with the staunchly anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party—alongside his wife, Flavia. They were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in Ain Saadeh on Easter Sunday, far from the frontlines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

"We are paying the price for a war we want no part in," Mouawad told AFP, her voice trembling with emotion. The church was packed with hundreds of mourners, many draped in the flags of the Lebanese Forces, as automatic gunfire and fireworks echoed outside—a raw display of anguish in a country being pulled deeper into regional turmoil.

The attack marks an escalation in Israel’s targeting of areas beyond Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds in southern Lebanon, raising fears of renewed sectarian strife. Since Hezbollah began launching rockets into Israel in early March in solidarity with Iran, Israeli counterstrikes have killed more than 1,500 people nationwide, according to Lebanese authorities.

At the funeral in Yahshoush, LF anthems blared as mourners threw rice and flower petals at the flag-draped coffins. In the crowd, some wore military-style attire—a visual reminder of Lebanon’s fragile and often armed political divisions.

Raymonda Mouawad voiced a sentiment echoed by many in the Christian-majority area: "We opened our homes to those fleeing the fighting, and now we are struck in our own neighborhoods." She was referring to displaced families from Shia-dominated regions, though the Lebanese army later stated an investigation found "no new tenants" in the targeted building.

The army warned against speculation on "sensitive security matters," saying it could inflame domestic tensions. Israel’s military claimed it struck a "terrorist target" east of Beirut and said it was reviewing reports of civilian casualties.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun cautioned against exploiting fears of sectarian strife for political gain, vowing, "I will not allow strife." Meanwhile, LF leader Samir Geagea suggested the strike intended to hit a member of Iran’s Quds Force but missed its mark.

Among mourners, nurse Fadia Mrad Atallah, a friend of the couple, pleaded: "We’ve had enough bloodshed. We don’t want war. Whoever wants to wage war should go to Iran."

Friends shared memories of Pierre Mouawad as a devoted community figure. Sam Hanna, 56, scrolled through missed calls from Sunday, when the two had planned to meet for coffee. "I wish I had told him to come," he said quietly. Another friend, Marwan Khoury, watched a video on his phone of Pierre’s final journey in the hearse. "It wasn’t his time," Khoury said. "No one should go like this."

Voices from the Ground

Elias Gemayel, 48, schoolteacher in Beirut: "This strike feels intentional—a message to Christian areas to not feel safe. The government is absent, and we’re caught between Hezbollah’s agenda and Israel’s retaliation."

Layla Harb, 52, civil society activist: "Every funeral becomes a political rally. It’s heartbreaking. We’re burying civilians while leaders exchange accusations. When will the international community hold both sides accountable for proportional response?"

Karim Fakhry, 44, taxi driver from southern suburbs: "Enough! I’ve lost cousins in the south, now they’re hitting the mountains. Hezbollah says it’s resisting, but what are we resisting? Our own destruction? Both Israel and Hezbollah are playing with Lebanese lives like chess pieces." [Emotional/Sharp]

Nadia Touma, 60, retired nurse: "I remember the civil war. This is how it starts—with funerals that turn into protests, then militias forming. President Aoun is right to warn against strife, but words aren’t enough. We need a ceasefire now."