Gunshots fired in the air during Beirut funeral of Palestinian man

Mourners fired gunshots into the air during the funeral of a Palestinian national who was killed on Monday by Lebanese army troops in Beirut’s Qasqas area, New TV reported Tuesday. In a statement issued on Monday, the Lebanese army said that one of its patrols in the Qasqas area shot and killed a Palestinian national after the man and his brother opened fire on the troops. The army identified the deceased man as Ahmad Qouwayder and his brother, who was critically injured, as Abed. However, witnesses at the scene told NOW’s correspondents that the Palestinian brothers had “only been driving by” when they were shot at. The incident came amid heightened tension in Lebanon following the assassination of Internal Security Forces intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan who was killed on Friday in a huge explosion that rocked the Beirut area of Ashrafieh, which left at least two others dead and at least 126 wounded in mainly Christian East Beirut.