Walid Joumblatt at Clemenceau on Aug. 27, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L’Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Druze leader and former head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Joumblatt released a statement on Thursday saying that he hopes Lebanese leaders will work to prevent the escalation of Israeli aggression on Lebanon.
Joumblatt, who passed the leadership of his party onto his son Teymour but remains active in politics, said he hopes "the three presidents will arrive at an acceptable formula to try to end the war, which seems poised to either intensify or not."
"We do not want to capitulate," he said, "but we want the return of the occupied South to Lebanon, the release of prisoners, and the fulfillment of the just demand of a great, resilient people; the entire Lebanese people are resilient and dignified."
The Israeli army bombed five villages across four districts on Thursday afternoon and early evening in a wave of airstrikes that followed evacuation orders that claimed, without providing evidence, that the targeted sites were associated with Hezbollah.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said it rejected any "political negotiation" between Lebanon and Israel, as proposed by envoys, and asserted its "legitimate right" to defend itself in the face of intensified Israeli attacks.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Israel would take action to ensure compliance with the cease-fire in southern Lebanon — despite its daily violations of the agreement. "Israel will continue to defend all its borders and we continue to insist on full implementation of the cease-fire agreement," Bedrosian told reporters. "We will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild."
Israel agreed to a cease-fire with Hezbollah in November 2024, ending a 13-month war. However, it continues to attack Lebanon, killing more than 340 people since the supposed truce came into effect.
