Latest news with #Jumblat
Nahar Net
5 days ago
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Jumblat calls for reason and wisdom in face of 'long' Sweida conflict
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 July 2025, 18:27 Druze leader in Lebanon Walid Jumblat urged the Druze community to use reason and wisdom before reacting and throwing accusations after clashes in Syria's Sweida province spread to Lebanon. After an extraordinary meeting of the Druze Council, Jumblat proposed ceasefire and dialogue, adding that Jabal al-Arab in Sweida is an integral part of Syria and condemning Israeli attacks on Syria and Lebanon. The escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province of Sweida. Government forces that intervened to restore order clashed with the Druze militias, but also in some cases attacked civilians. The tensions spread to Lebanon where Druze protesters were seen in videos insulting army troops in Dahr al-Baydar, blocking roads and assaulting Syrian workers, passersby and residents in several parts of Lebanon. Jumblat called for restraint in Lebanon and warned against blocking roads. He said the Sweida conflict would drag for a long time. "We are at the beginning of a very long problem," he said.
Nahar Net
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Jumblat: Israel not protecting Druze in Sweida but using some of the 'weak-minded'
by Naharnet Newsdesk 16 July 2025, 17:58 Lebanon's Druze leader and former Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat told Syria's state TV on Wednesday that 'Israel is not protecting the Druze in (the unrest-hit Syrian city of Sweida), but is rather using some of the weak-minded to claim that it is protecting them.' 'One of the reasons of the civil war in Lebanon that lasted 19 years was that Israel had claimed to be protecting some in Lebanon, and the issue led to the disasters of the war,' Jumblat added. Speaking to Al-Jadeed television later in the day, Jumblat said 'the destruction of the Syrian defense ministry building' with six Israeli warplane missiles earlier on Wednesday 'had nothing to do with protecting the Druze.' He also called on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to organize an 'inclusive national conference.'
Nahar Net
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Jumblat on Sweida clashes: We reject calls for external and Israeli intervention
by Naharnet Newsdesk 14 July 2025, 14:38 Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat urged Monday the Syrian government to find a political solution, after dozens of people were killed in fighting between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters in Syria's Sweida province. "We reject calls for external protection and Israeli intervention," Jumblat stated, as he hoped for the return of security and stability to Sweida. "We are in contact with the Syrian government," the Druze leader told local Annahar newspaper. Clashes initially broke out between armed groups from the Druze religious minority and Sunni Bedouin clans, with some members of the government security forces "actively participating" in support of the Bedouins. The Israeli army later attacked several tanks in Sweida Monday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings. - Loyal minority - Israel has previously intervened in Syria in defense of the Druze religious minority. In May, Israeli forces struck a site near the presidential palace in Damascus, in what was seen as a warning to Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The strike came after dozens were killed in fighting between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters earlier this year in the town of Sahnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement at the time that Israel 'will not allow the deployment of (Syrian government) forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community.' Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Israel, Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces. Factions from the Druze minority have been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus after former President Bashar Assad fled the country in December during a rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups. On several occasions, Druze groups have clashed with security forces from the new government or allied factions. - 'Like unwrapping an onion' - The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south. The Druze developed their own militias during the country's nearly 14-year civil war, during which they sometimes faced attacks by the Islamic State and other Islamist militant groups. Israel has taken an aggressive stance toward Syria's new leaders since Assad's fall, saying it does not want Islamist militants near its borders. Israeli forces earlier seized a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the border with the Golan Heights and have launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in Syria. The Trump administration has been pushing for the new Syrian government to move toward normalization with Israel. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel to attempt to defuse tensions, but have not responded to reports that the two sides have also held direct talks. U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack told The Associated Press last week that he believes normalizing ties will happen 'like unwrapping an onion, slowly.'
Nahar Net
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Jumblat says PSP handed over arms, calls other parties to follow suit
by Naharnet Newsdesk 27 June 2025, 11:49 Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said the PSP has handed over its "light and medium" arms to the state three weeks ago, urging all other parties to do the same. Jumblat called Thursday on all Lebanese and non-Lebanese parties to hand over their arms, saying that "a new chapter has been opened in the Middle East". He added that it is not by attacking Hezbollah with statements that disarmament must be done, a hint that other parties must disarm as well in a message to Hezbollah instead of attacking the group.
Nahar Net
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Jumblat urges Druze in Syria to reject 'Israeli interference'
by Naharnet Newsdesk 7 hours Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblat has urged members of the minority community in Syria to reject "Israeli interference" following Israeli threats against Damascus authorities if they harm the Druze. "Preserving the (Druze) brothers (in Syria) involves rejecting Israeli interference," Jumblat said following a meeting with Druze figures in Beirut to discuss sectarian violence that erupted in Syria this week. Clashes near Damascus between security forces and local Druze fighters have reportedly killed 39 people in two days. The violence followed the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous. The Israeli military said its troops were instructed to "prepare to strike" Syrian government targets "should the violence against Druze communities continue." "A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime -- Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community," said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Jumblat accused Israel of seeking to drag the Druze into an "endless war against Muslims," accusing Israeli Druze chief Mowafaq Tarif of supporting Israeli objectives. The Druze, an esoteric offshoot of Islam, live mostly in Lebanon, Israel and Syria, including the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel, which sees the Islamist forces who ousted longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December as jihadists, has previously threatened to attack should the Druze be harmed. Syrian Druze leaders had rejected the Israeli warning and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.
