And a suspected gunman is now in custody after a
shooting outside the US Embassy in Lebanon.
Video on social media shows an armed man running near
the building in Beirut.
The Lebanese military says the Syrian national was shot and
captured on site after injuring a guard.
Now the State Department is issuing a security alert for
the embassy.
AB CS Marcus Moore has the latest.
Marcus, walk me through what you can see there now.
And what's the latest on this shootout?
Yeah, Diane, we, we do have some new information on
the shooting that happened this morning in Beirut.
But first, I want to tell you where we are
right now here in Jerusalem.
You see behind me here the hundreds of Israelis who've
gathered here at Damascus Gate.
This is a part of the annual
flag parade where they March through here the the Damascus
Gate through into the Old City of of Jerusalem.
And our tensions have been very high and we'll just
watch to see exactly how this transpires.
There's already been a couple of scuffles that we have
seen here and also reports of scuffles inside
the Old city. Now to the the developing story that
we've been following out of Beirut.
We understand from officials there in Lebanon that this was
a, a lone gunman who according to authorities,
opened fire on the the US Embassy there in Beirut.
This happened right just as the work day was beginning,
right around 8:30 AM local time.
That gunman was was wounded in a shootout with authorities,
with police there and was taken to an area hospital
for treatment. At this point,
Diane, we, we only know of that one injury.
No one else was injured.
And we understand from officials that all of the embassy
staff
are OK and they are safe.
And we'll just wait to learn more about what happened.
We don't know about a motive,
but officials there are saying that the alleged gunman is
a Syrian national.
Diane
and Marcus, where does the investigation go from here?
Well, certainly they will try to identify this,
the the suspect who they say was involved in this
incident.
And from there they will try to learn more about
about a possible motive.
That's where things stand right now.
The embassy itself is closed for the rest of the
day,
but we understand from officials that it is expected to
to reopen.
But the investigation into this this shootout
continues. And of course, when we learn more about it,
we'll of course pass that along.
But it does add to the tension that we've already
seen in the region with the war in Gaza continuing
to unfold and also concerns about new activity in the
north of of Israel and Israel's fight with Hezbollah.
And so we'll watch to see how that develops as
well.
And Marcus, this attack comes as the Israeli Prime Minister
is saying Israel is prepared for strong action near the
Lebanon border.
What are you hearing about concerns that that this could
contribute to escalating violence in the region?
Yeah. One of the things that we've heard very early
on from Israeli officials,
including the Prime Minister, is that they said that they
are,
they are fighting this war on multiple fronts,
not only in Gaza but also in Israel's north.
And a number of Israelis have been displaced from their
homes because of the fighting with Hezbollah to the north.
And in my conversations with Israeli officials in the past,
they have always said that the the situation in the
north is a critical one and one that they're keeping
a very close eye on.
And today, it was quite symbolic
and perhaps meant to be a signal of the fact
that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually appeared in the north
and also reported today that Israel will mobilize 50,000 reservists
in preparation, they say, for any potential
escalation along the north. So when you put all of
this together,
it gives you some sense of how volatile
the situation is, because within the past couple of weeks,
we've seen fighting in the north
intensify. And so a lot of attention is being paid
right now to to the north.
And again, we'll just have to wait to see how
this transpires.
But it is important to point out
that we've heard from U.S.
officials and others around the world who
want to try to keep this this conflict contained.
They don't want to see it spread into a much
wider regional conflict.
Understandable. Marcus Moore, thank you.
Stay safe.