Despite Lebanon’s economic and security problems, an extremist Christian group has emerged.

Many Lebanese people had questions about who these people were, who financed them, and what their agenda was, with supporters and opponents divided.

who are “Soldiers of God”?

A group of young men calling themselves “Soldiers of God” march out against the Lebanese with swords, sharpened crosses, uniform black clothing, and religious hymns and prayers in the Achrafieh district of Beirut.

As a result, there were many questions about their identity, tendencies, ideas, beliefs, goals, and supporters, with very few answers, which exacerbated the ambiguity and general suspicion.

In the Achrafieh region, on the tenth of December, a dispute took place in Sassine Square between a group of young men from outside the Christian-majority region, who arrived on motorcycles flying Moroccan, Palestinian, and Syrian flags to celebrate the victory of the Moroccan national team and its qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals.

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Soon, the celebration turned into launching religious and sectarian slogans of an Islamic nature, which provoked some Christian youths in the region, leading to a major conflict and disagreement in which the “Soldiers of God” emerged after some of them intervened, before the military and security forces separated the combatants.

A Prelude to Civil War

A report by the Army Intelligence indicated that members of a group calling itself “Soldiers of God” rose that night in the “Tayouneh crime”, on October 15, 2021, when members of the Lebanese Forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing seven and wounding dozens.

To ratchet up sectarian tensions, crosses and religious slogans were drawn and written in several eastern neighborhoods before the ambush. Social media incitement was there at the same time.

 According to the records, many of them deployed and “are on alert without visible weapons” at several points.

Also read: The Church in Lebanon defends normalization in the name of religion

The documents also listed the names of members of this gang who took part in the shooting and revealed their connections to and funding from Anton Sehnaoui, the chairman of the Societe Générale Bank’s board of directors.

Christian soldiers are closer than the security forces

A woman was robbed in Achrafieh, B according to a deputy in Parliament, who claimed that after she went to the Achrafieh police station to report the crime, the soldiers of God showed up at her house and, when she asked how they knew, said that the police station had informed them of the incident.

According to a statement,No contact was received in this regard from a woman with any of the Achrafieh, Gemmayzeh, and Al-Nahar factions.

Also, the last two factions have moved since 11-25-2022 to another building due to maintenance work in the old building as a result of the Beirut port explosion, and until this moment, work is underway to install landline phone numbers in these two factions.

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The Beirut Police Operations Room after reviewing the recordings did not receive any communication from a woman in this regard.

The agenda of the Soldiers of God comes under the framework of self-protection aimed at renouncing any sect that is outside the Christian sect and does not follow the teachings of the Church, and this may be a precursor to a civil and bloody war in Lebanon, and it is indispensable for it.

Despite six presidential sessions, Lebanon still does not have a president.

The funny thing is, the government is also idle and the whole country is waiting for a miracle to get up again.

France is on the president line!

The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Representative Gebran Bassil, is expected to visit Paris, which is expected to mark a remarkable development in the presidential file in Lebanon.

The meetings will aim to discuss the imminent presidential, governmental, and economic entitlements of all Lebanese stakeholders.

Based on Basil’s excellent relationship with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi and Hezbollah, the French hope to agree on a roadmap for the presidential elections.

Although the French side does not carry an integrated initiative, it sought to know the position of all parties regarding a list of candidates that includes about seven names.

Those connected to the French ambassador understand that her country still has the American mandate to manage the initiative about the presidential file and that Paris wants to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia that facilitates the task because insisting on fighting harsh battles would prevent the election of a president soon.

President issue: Who does Hezbollah wants?

 Hezbollah is reconsidering the local reality from a different angle than the one that preceded the election of President Aoun, as evidenced by Aoun’s recent paradox of reopening half-closed doors.

In contrast to Aoun, the party does not find any justification for repeating the vacuum for more than two years and tightening its internal domestic rams to deliver its candidate.

They are fully aware that choosing to unilaterally elect a president of the republic, and consequently, a government of one color and the presidency of the House of Representatives, means putting the country in direct conflict with the outside world. Everything that surrounds the internal reality is different from the previous stage, as is the position of the concerned countries.

 While Hezbollah’s opponents are only mentioning Franjieh as president—or, at the very least, any candidate from the party’s second row—this does not imply that Hezbollah has abandoned its candidate or candidates.

The party assumes entering into early settlements, which means that the party receives its price both internally and externally.

This is because the party cannot bear the idea of losing its candidate and will not bear the idea of any settlement following a vacuum that results in challenges, conditions, and counter conditions.

An alternative situation is possible in addition to that. Except for the March 8 team, there is no president of the country.

Is the former minister Franjieh a serious candidate?

Former Minister Suleiman Franjieh was Hezbollah’s candidate.

Nasrallah’s remarks coincided with a fresh French attempt that started a few days ago to forge an agreement on choosing a new president before the year is up and included pledges to start aid programs for Lebanon, including the “Cedre” program.

The debate that the French began with the major parties in Lebanon is anticipated to be finished with Washington and Riyadh and is predicated on the premise that no one can impose a prime minister or president of the republic without a genuine agreement between the major forces.

Hezbollah claimed in 2016 that there was no Plan B for the nomination of General Michel Aoun, and it repeated that claim this time as well: the candidate is Franjieh, and there is a point on the line.

 If the two allies cannot agree on a second candidate, there are dangers that no one has the luxury of incurring.

What does The Free Patriotic Movement says?

 The Free Patriotic Movement was informed by Hezbollah that the results of naming places below the presidency of the Republic under the General Michel Aoun administration were not encouraging, as the residents of these sites turned against the people who named them to them.

There is a “term” that Hezbollah agreed to, though, which is that it will not attend the election session for the Marada Movement’s leader until he has Basil’s endorsement in his pocket.

The party’s desire to maintain and strengthen the agreement with the Free Patriotic Movement is the most crucial factor, and as a result, “the election of Suleiman will be with Gibran’s consent and not at his expense,” among other factors, including giving Franjieh Christian support that makes him a strong president.

So far, there has not been any serious president, and we are facing many sessions without a result.

Is Lebanon on a date with a long presidential debate, as happened before the election of former President Michel Aoun, or will we witness the election of a president before the New Year?

After the crisis in Lebanon and the decline of the economic crisis, many chose illegal immigration as their only escape. Still, on the other hand, boat owners and those involved in this field exploited the Lebanese’s situation to put them in horrific situations that resulted in the “death boat” disaster.

Death boat catastrophe

After an illegal immigration boat left Tripoli in Lebanon, the disaster occurred in Tartous, which helped find survivors. The sinking of the Lebanese boat comes just a week after the death of the Syrian engineer, Muhammad Barjas, his two children, and his wife in the sinking of a migrant boat off the Greek coast.

Many of the victims sold all their possessions to be able to pay for their escape to Europe, and some of them spent more than $20,000 to depart their whole families.

Survivors recount that three hours after the departure of the boat, the boat began to tumble unsteadily, and the sea waves began tossing it in different directions. A survivor reported that all men, women, and children on board felt terror and panic for more than 48 hours as the boat was tossed by high waves.

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When he arrived at Al-Basel Hospital in Tartus, he found out that the boat had sunk in Syrian waters, but he didn’t know where it had sunk until he reached the hospital. He mentions that he lost touch with his wife and children, and he wants nothing more than to see them among the survivors.”.

Death is more expensive than life

As if fleeing poverty and hunger from Lebanon was not bad enough, the enormous costs of burials and were paid in dollars, Lebanon’s lost currency.

In one case, a family had to sell everything they owned to secure payment supplies, while another family had to exchange gold for graves, and one charitable group donated two graves to a destitute family to bury their children.

Also Read: Lebanon’s ‘Deliberate depression’

Death boat master is behind bars!

A squad from the army intelligence branch in al-Abdah intercepted Bilal Y after the illegal immigration boat left the beach of Miniyeh on Wednesday night referred to as the smugglers’ “king,” who was in charge of the boat’s journey and which sank the following day off the coast of Tartus, Syria. A security source, however, confirmed that his detention took place at the same time as the boat capsized. “After he made the second trip in less than two months, it was decided to have him arrested. He switched his departure location to Minya after the journey from Al-Abdah beach was abandoned multiple times.

He used to maintain a low profile, but now he utilizes drugs, supports drug usage, and is infamous for being harsh to passengers. On the last voyage, the captain was compelled to set sail despite the small fishing boat being overloaded with 170 passengers due to severe seas, overloads, and running out of fuel. However, the source claims that he sent three armed men to board the boat and force it to set sail. After a few hours of sailing, it was rumored that “the captain jumped off the boat and moved to another boat, convinced that the boat would sink.”

Also, Read: Massive Explosion in Beirut reveals Lebanon’s Incompetence

A history of illegal immigration

It seems striking in the tragedy of the drowning of these illegal immigrants from Lebanon, this time the presence of other nationalities other than the Lebanese, on the sinking boat, as there were Palestinians and Syrians on board alongside the Lebanese, and according to multiple sources, the 25 Palestinians on board the sinking boat are A resident of Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon.

According to a BBC report, Lebanon is witnessing a significant rise in immigration rates, driven by a devastating economic collapse that left large sectors of the Lebanese people suffering poverty over the past three years, and the report refers to statistics, according to which the number of those trying to leave Lebanon by sea, in 2021, it doubled more than it was during 2020, according to estimates by the United Nations Refugee Agency, while the number increased again by 70% during 2022.

However, the desperate pursuit of life by many Arab youths is not limited to the Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians only. Incidents of boarding death boats, on dangerous journeys, are repeated in many Arab countries, and news of those who drown in those boats has become a familiar thing in the media. From Libya to Tunisia to Morocco.

Also Read: Lebanon is spiralling down into a humanitarian crisis

The Arab Barometer poll, which was carried out by the Arab Barometer Network, in cooperation with the BBC in 2019, indicated that 20% of the participants expressed their desire to emigrate, and in the age group between 18-29 years, the percentage reached 52%.

It was striking among the results reached by the Arab Barometer poll that those wishing to emigrate showed a willingness to travel without official papers (illegal immigration). In Sudan, for example, the percentage of these people reached 43%, which is almost the same in Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, and Morocco. While it reached 12% in Lebanon and 18% in Jordan.