Joumblatt in Baabda: The atmosphere is reassuring, despite 'thoughtless' smear campaigns

BEIRUT — Following a meeting with President Joseph Aoun at Baabda Palace on Tuesday, Druze leader Walid Joumblatt told reporters that he found the atmosphere in Lebanon to be "reassuring" despite tensions over the issue of Hezbollah's disarmament and, more recently, the controversy surrounding the commemoration of the assassination Hassan Nasrallah.

Joumblatt emphasized from the palace's podium that the visit had been "friendly" and that the atmosphere in the country was "reassuring, despite the thoughtless smear campaigns."

Tensions have been high between Hezbollah and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in particular following the former's unauthorized projection of images of Nasrallah on the Raouche Rocks off the coast of a traditionally Sunni neighborhood of Beirut.

The Lebanese Army had not intervened in the projections — which went against the specific permissions granted by governor of Beirut — causing tension also between the Grand Serail and Baabda, although a meeting between Aoun and Salam appeared to have brought the two leaders back on the same page, and the issue seemed settled by the time Cabinet's Monday meeting had concluded.

During that meeting, it was decided to suspend the license of the organization that had arranged the commemoration — stopping short of dissolving it entirely — until ongoing investigations into the case are completed. Hezbollah had threatened to escalate if the organization was dissolved.

Joumblatt said he felt the Lebanese Army "is doing a tremendous job in the South," where it it has been expanding its jurisdiction as part of the project to dismantle Hezbollah's infrastructure, which was dominant in the area before the cease-fire on Nov. 27, 2024.

The government pledged at the beginning of August to regain exclusive control of arms in the hands of the state, and a month later approved the army’s plan to achieve this.

Joumblatt visited the presidential palace accompanied by his son, Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader and MP Taymour Joumblatt.

The day prior, Joumblatt had been briefed by Yasser Abbas, son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, on the details of official cooperation between Lebanon and Palestine regarding the disarmament of Palestinian camps, according to the state-run National News Agency.