Bedouins and tribes hold their ground during clashes with Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, despite the announcement of an “immediate cease-fire” by Syria's interim president on July 19, 2025. (Credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) stated on Friday that it succeeded in obtaining exceptional approvals to allow Syrian students, who were displaced from the Syrian city of Sweida and other areas following the recent clashes there, to register in Lebanese schools.
More than 1,500 people were killed in July in clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins, which expanded with the involvement of government forces who sided with the tribes.
In a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency, the PSP said: "Based on the directives of the [former party's leader] Walid Joumblatt and the [current president of the party] MP Taymour Jumblatt, the PSP succeeded in obtaining exceptional approvals to register displaced Syrian students from the governorates of Sweida and rural Damascus, as well as from Jabal al-Sumaq, in order to ensure that their education is not interrupted and that their academic journey in Lebanon continues after they were forced to flee due to recent events.”
“The [party's] success in this matter came following meetings ... held by [PSP] MP Akram Chehayeb with President Joseph Aoun, the Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and the Minister of Education Rima Karami, in coordination with the Director General of General Security, Hassan Choucair," the statement reads.
The party also affirmed that it will "continue working to resolve the Sweida crisis on the basis of the roadmap set forth by Joumblatt, which is in line with the Syrian-Jordanian-American agreement to restore security and stability in Sweida and all Syrian regions.”
Joumblatt has long urged calm and dialogue between the Druze in southern Syria. He was the first Lebanese political leader to visit Damascus after the fall of the Assad regime, expressing his support for the new Syrian authorities.
Last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani announced a plan supported by the United States and neighboring Jordan to pacify the province. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also discussed the plan last month, stating that a "joint Syrian-Jordanian-American mechanism" would ensure its implementation.
Asked about the reason behind the registration of the Syrian students in Lebanon despite the Syrian-Jordanian-American agreement, a source familiar with the Sweida file told L'Orient Today that the agreement is not being implemented the way it should, especially because the main Druze spiritual leader in Syria, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, still refuses any communication with the Syrian government.
In August, Hijri called for the creation of a "separate" region for the minority in southern Syria.
"Even some steps that were mentioned in the agreement, like a prisoner exchange, failed because Hijri is still negative in his approach," the source added.
The prisoner exchange agreement stipulated the release of 110 Druze in return for 3o prisoners held by Hijri.
In parallel with the tripartite agreement, efforts have been made to establish a security pact between Syria and Israel. However, Reuters reported last week that the efforts have hit a last-minute snag over Israel's demand that it be allowed to open a "humanitarian corridor" to Sweida. Israel is calling for the establishment of a demilitarized zone in southern Syria, and had bombed Damascus in July, saying it wanted to protect the Druze minority in that region.
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