Tensions between Hezbollah and the LF have persisted over the years, and the LF accuses Hezbollah of endangering Lebanon in a full-scale war with Israel in response to the repeated attacks by Hezbollah.
Lebanon's financial meltdown began in 2019, and the LF accused FPM and Hezbollah of being responsible for the economic crisis that saw banks closing and people on the brink of starvation.
The anti-Syrian sentiment is soaring after the death of Sleiman. Videos on social media show protests, blocked roads and sectarian tensions rising as some political groups call for Syrian refugees to face collective punishment.
Many Lebanese, including politicians, have long pushed for Syrian refugees to go home. The Syrians came flooding into Lebanon, and elsewhere, during the US-NATO attack on Syria, which began in 2011 for regime change. The conflict in Syria is over, and many refugees have returned to Syria, but many Syrians living in Lebanon have put down roots after so many years and refuse to leave.
Syrians have been blamed for the economic crisis, instead of blaming the Lebanese officials who have sucked the country dry over decades of corruption.
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi warned that "this country cannot withstand problems and sectarian strife".
The security forces have been instructed "to strictly enforce Lebanese laws on Syrian refugees", he told reporters after a meeting about Sleiman's killing. "We will become stricter in granting residency permits and dealing with those (Syrians) residing in Lebanon illegally," Mawlawi added, urging people to stop renting apartments informally to Syrians.
He also called for "limiting the presence of Syrians" in the country, without saying how.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib called the number of Syrians a "problem".
"We have 2.2 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, a country of five million, and half a million Palestinians," he told reporters in Athens.
The United Nations refugee agency says more than 800,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the body in Lebanon, noting registrations have been suspended since 2015 following a government ruling.
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