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)
TT

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.”



Aoun Vows to Tackle All Pending Issues between Lebanon and Syria

 10 January 2025, Lebanon, Baabda: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun waits to receive his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at Baabda presidential palace. Photo: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
10 January 2025, Lebanon, Baabda: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun waits to receive his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at Baabda presidential palace. Photo: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT

Aoun Vows to Tackle All Pending Issues between Lebanon and Syria

 10 January 2025, Lebanon, Baabda: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun waits to receive his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at Baabda presidential palace. Photo: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
10 January 2025, Lebanon, Baabda: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun waits to receive his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at Baabda presidential palace. Photo: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed on Sunday the importance of cooperation to address all pending issues between Lebanon and Syria.

He received a telephone call from head of Syria’s new authorities Ahmed al-Sharaa, who congratulated him on his election as president on Thursday.

Aoun underscored the “fraternal relations that bind the Syrian and Lebanese people.”

The officials also stressed the importance of building and developing positive relations between their countries.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with al-Sharaa.

The leaders stressed their keenness on building long-term strategic relations based on mutual respect and national sovereignty after decades of strained ties.

The trip was the first by a head of government to Syria since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a sweeping opposition offensive on Dec. 8, and the first visit by a Lebanese premier to neighboring Syria in 15 years. Ties between Damascus and Beirut have often been fraught since they became independent states in the 1940s.