Hezbollah suffered political, military defeat, says Joumblatt

While discussing the situation in Sweida, Syria, where Syrian forces are accused of having launched a bloody offensive against Druze, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said Tuesday night in an interview with the Al-Hadath channel that "Hezbollah suffered a political and military defeat" after its war against Israel last fall. This statement comes as pressure is mounting on Lebanon, which is being called to seriously engage in disarming Hezbollah.

"We are trying to address the situation in Sweida in coordination with the Syrian government," Joumblatt said, adding that "the Druze of Sweida must get involved with the state and not isolate themselves from it." "What I am asking of the Druze of Sweida, I am also asking of Hezbollah in Lebanon," he continued, considering that "Hezbollah suffered a political and military defeat."

He also called for dialogue: "In the same way that I am advocating for dialogue between the Syrian state and the Druze, I am calling for dialogue with Hezbollah, because the Shiite community is an essential component of Lebanese society," he said.

Clashes broke out Sunday in Sweida between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes. Syrian government forces intervened, claiming they wanted to pacify the region. However, they took part in the fighting alongside the Bedouin against the Druze factions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), witnesses, and Druze groups. According to SOHR, the violence left 116 dead, including 64 Druze (mostly fighters but also two women and two children), 18 Bedouin and 34 members of the security forces. Israel, which says it wants to protect the Druze community, the majority in this city of about 150,000 inhabitants, bombed government forces after they entered Sweida. A "total cease-fire" was announced by the Syrian authorities on Tuesday morning, but the situation on the ground remained unclear.