Walid Joumblatt in Clemenceau, Aug. 27, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L’Orient-Le Jour)
A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) on Friday delivered a letter from former leader Walid Joumblatt to U.N. Special Coordinator in Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. The letter, addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calls for an international investigation into the deadly violence in July in Syria’s Sweida province.
Joumblatt urged “the opening of an independent and transparent international investigation into the events in Sweida, for those responsible to be prosecuted and for the release of those abducted, particularly women and children,” according to the state-run National News Agency.
Sweida, a majority-Druze town in southern Syria, was the scene of fierce fighting in July between local Druze factions and Sunni Bedouin fighters, whom several sources accused of receiving backing from government forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 1,600 people were killed, most of them Druze civilians.
In his letter, Joumblatt told Guterres, “I am writing to express my appreciation for the tireless efforts of the U.N. I would like to draw your attention to the tragic events in Sweida, during which many innocent civilians lost their lives. Reliable testimonies and available reports indicate that serious violations resembling war crimes were committed.”
Joumblatt warned the violence “risks inflaming sectarian tensions, threatening Syria’s unity, and raising the risk of civil war and division.” He stressed that “the deliberate targeting of civilians constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law. Truth, accountability, and transitional justice remain essential pillars to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.”
He urged the secretary-general “to support the opening of an international investigation, to demand the immediate release of those abducted, especially women and children, and to ensure that necessary measures are taken to prevent the recurrence of such grave violations.”
The PSP delegation included MPs Wael Abou Faour and Faysal Sayegh.
Joumblatt, the first Lebanese political leader to visit Damascus after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, has consistently called for dialogue among Syria’s communities. He has expressed support for the country’s new authorities while rejecting any rapprochement with Israel, which has sought to portray itself as a protector of the Syrian Druze.
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