Jumblatt Says Hezbollah Leading a War in Yemen, Ignoring Lebanon’s Interests

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. (Reuters)
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. (Reuters)
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Jumblatt Says Hezbollah Leading a War in Yemen, Ignoring Lebanon’s Interests

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. (Reuters)
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. (Reuters)

The head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Jumblatt, lashed out at Hezbollah, saying that the Lebanese “cannot bear the war of others on our land.”

Hezbollah “is leading a war in Yemen… and does not care about the interests of the Lebanese in the Gulf,” Jumblatt said, in reference to the country’s crisis with Saudi Arabia and Gulf states over harmful remarks by Information Minister George Kordahi.

“Lebanon has been linked to decades of political and economic relations with the Arab Gulf, and there are hundreds of thousands of Lebanese living there, and they send money to Lebanon; where will they go?” he asked during an interview with Russian RT channel.

The PSP leader went on to say that Hezbollah “largely controls political decisions in Lebanon,” reminding of previous Iranian statements that Tehran enjoyed major influence in the country.

He called for “freeing the government from pressure.”

“This government cannot convene today as a result of [Kordahi’s] remarks that are politically backed by the axis of the resistance,” he remarked, in reference to Hezbollah and its allies.

On Monday, Jumblatt had similarly slammed Hezbollah, telling local MTV channel that the immediate way out of the Gulf crisis “begins with the dismissal of Information Minister George Kordahi, and then a formal Lebanese apology to the Gulf.”



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.