Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that 3 people were killed and 15 others were wounded by shooting near protesters demonstrating in Beirut against the investigative judge, Tariq Al-Bitar, while the army intensified its deployment in the area.

The reporter said that heavy gunfire, punctuated by the explosion of a rocket-propelled grenade, occurred in an area near the Palace of Justice in Beirut.

For their part, Hezbollah and the Amal movement said that gunmen shot protesters from the rooftops of buildings in Beirut, shooting them in the head, in an attack that the party and the movement said was aimed at "dragging the country into sedition."

In a joint statement to them, they called on the army to intervene quickly to arrest those responsible for what happened, and called on their supporters to calm down.

The Lebanese army issued an initial statement saying that protesters were exposed to bursts of fire in the "Tayouneh-Badaro" area while they were heading to the Qasr al-Adl area in Beirut.

He pointed out that his forces rushed to cordon off the area and spread in its neighborhoods, and that the search for the shooters was underway to arrest them.

The army called on civilians to evacuate the streets, warning that anyone who shoots will be targeted.

Heavy deployment of army members near the accident site (Anatolia)

calls for calm

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Aoun held contacts with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Ministers of Defense and Interior.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on everyone to calm down and not be drawn into sedition for any reason.

An official statement said that Mikati followed up with the army commander his procedures to control the situation in the "Tayouneh" area and arrest the perpetrators of the attack.

Mikati also communicated with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and the Ministers of Interior and Defense for the same purpose.

The statement said that Mikati requested an emergency meeting of the Central Security Council to discuss the situation.

A state of chaos and panic pervaded the scene (Anatolia)

The Court of Cassation in Lebanon rejected the request to disqualify Judge Tariq Al-Bitar, the judicial investigator in the Beirut port explosion case, which would allow him to resume his work.

The former Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, and the former Minister of Works, Ghazi Zuaiter, had submitted to the court a second request to disqualify the investigator from the case, given that the Supreme Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers is the reference for their trial.

Part of the protests that preceded the incident (Reuters)

Al-Bitar had suspended the investigation sessions until the Court of Cassation decided on the request to disqualify him.

It is noteworthy that the judge had previously issued two arrest warrants against former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former Minister of Works Youssef Fenianos, and a summons against former Prime Minister Hassan Diab.