On April 9, 2024, Pascal Suleiman, a senior figure in the Christian Lebanese Forces party, was abducted and killed in the area of Byblos, Lebanon.^[1][2] Approximately a day and a half later, his body was found in Syria, sparking outrage among the Christian population in Lebanon, venting their anger on Syrian refugees, that fled the Syrian civil war, for several days.^[3]

From the years of 2011–2016, there was an influx of over 1.5 million refugees from Syria to the neighboring country of Lebanon. As the numbers of Syrians in Lebanon have grown, so have tensions; the attitude towards reception of Syrians in Lebanon quickly became opposed to. The influx of Syrians into Lebanon has resulted in economic, political, social and religious tensions in Lebanon.^[4]

Pascal Suleiman (Arabic: باسكال سليمان) was a Lebanese IT expert that worked for Byblos Bank for 20 years.^[5] He was a member of the Lebanese Forces (LF) and was appointed the coordinator of the party in the Byblos District. He was married to Micheline Wehbeh and had three children.^[6]

On the afternoon of April 7, 2024, Pascal Suleiman, a coordinator for the Christian Lebanese Forces party in the Byblos area, got into his car after returning from a condolence visit. While driving in a black Audi, he was ambushed and kidnapped by unidentified assailants of Syrian nationality. During his abduction in the assailants car he was able to call one of his party collogue and alerted him of his kidnapping; he was heard through the phone saying "I have children, don't kill me" which were his last known words.^[7] News got out of his kidnapping and protestors blocked roads demanding a safe return.

A day and a half later, his body was found by Syrian soldiers in the Hawit area of Syria and video of his corpse circulated online.^[7] Suleiman's body was delivered to the Basel al-Assad Hospital in Homs by the Lebanese Red Cross and then transported to Lebanon.^[3]

Initially, it was claimed that Hezbollah was behind the abduction, however, the Lebanese security forces argued that a gang of Syrian refugees was responsible. The Lebanese Army arrested three Syrians and a Lebanese mole for questioning and to find the victim's whereabouts. With the cooperation of a unit of the Syrian army, they were able to arrest the four kidnappers of Syrian nationalities including the alleged leader named Bilal Mohammad Dello.^[7]

The discovery of his body in Syria and the shifting of blame towards the Syrian refugees angered the Christians in Lebanon, who clashed with the refugees in the streets between Jbeil and other places across Lebanon. On April 10, local Christians in Bourj Hammoud, a suburb of Beirut, declared to the Syrian migrants in the area that they must vacate all businesses and apartments in Bourj Hammoud by April 12. The following day, Christians distributed leaflets in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Beirut, issuing an ultimatum to the Syrian refugees to leave the area by April 12 (the next day).^[3][8][9]

Following the killing, the Lebanese Interior Minister declared that the presence of Syrians in Lebanon must end, and security forces were instructed to enforce Lebanese law on the Syrian refugees within Lebanon's territory.^[10] He even called for the excecution of the murderers.^[7]

The funeral was held on Friday, April 12, at 1:00 p.m. at the Church of Saint George, Byblos, which was initiated by Maronite patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi.^[11] The Lebanese-Christian community called the citizens of Lebanon to unite, and participate in the funeral ceremony in solidarity of his "martyrdom".^[12]