Around 50 Lebanese people killed in Sweida clashes: Who were they?
The fighting, which killed more than 1,300 people, initially pitted Druze militiamen against Bedouins before forces from the Syrian government intervened to support the Bedouins. The Israeli army subsequently intervened against the government forces, striking targets in Sweida as well as important targets in Damascus, including the Defense Ministry. Following the cease-fire, the fighting had largely subsided by Sunday, bringing a fragile calm to the region.
Who are the Lebanese people killed?
Nidaa al-Watan reported on Wednesday that "funeral announcements revealed that dozens of Lebanese were killed in the recent events in Sweid" without mentioning their sect or affiliation.
Commenting on this report, Sheikh Salem Ahmad told L'Orient Today that 50 Lebanese Druze from the Chouf region, who were living in Syria, died in the clashes. He added that absentee funeral prayers have been held for them in the Chouf region, adding that once the situation calms down, each family will assess whether to bring the bodies of the deceased to Lebanon.
Many Lebanese people from Druze areas in Lebanon have been living in Sweida for a long time. Meanwhile, others, who are married to natives from the city, often go there to pay family visits.
Apart from the Druze killed, a Lebanese man from an Arab tribe in Wadi Khaled also died in the clashes. The president of the municipal council of Rama, Khaled Ahmad al-Baddaoui, in the Wadi Khaled region, told L'Orient Today on July 19 that the man killed was in his 30s and had been working in Syria "for a long time, even before the fall of the Assad regime [last Dec. 8]." Contacted by L'Orient Today on Wednesday, Ahmad al-Sheikh, a member of the Arab tribes council, confirmed to L'Orient Today that this man was the only Lebanese person from the Arab tribes who died in the fighting.
Lebanon is home to numerous Arab tribes from different religious communities, notably in the Bekaa, Akkar and the Khaldeh region, near Beirut.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
40 minutes ago
- Nahar Net
Syria sets date for selection of new transitional parliament
Syrian authorities announced that a new transitional parliament would be selected in September, with local electoral bodies picking two-thirds of the lawmakers and the country's interim president naming the rest. After toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war, Syria's new authorities -- led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa -- dissolved the country's rubber-stamp legislature and adopted a temporary constitutional declaration to cover a five-year transition period. In June, a presidential decree established a 10-member committee to supervise the formation of local electoral bodies to select a new batch of lawmakers. State news agency SANA reported on Sunday that committee head Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad had met with Sharaa to discuss the process, later announcing plans for a new 210-seat parliament with 140 members chosen by the local bodies and 70 appointed by the president. "The election of members of the People's Assembly is expected to take place between 15-20 September," Ahmad was quoted as saying, vowing women would be represented in the process. Ahmad's committee presented Sharaa with the final plan for the selection process during a meeting on Saturday, according to a statement from the presidency. The local electoral bodies will be formed within about three weeks of the signing of the decree laying out the temporary system, SANA cited Ahmad as saying. After that, candidacies will open, with hopefuls given about a week to prepare their platforms before debates are held. The assembly will have a renewable mandate of 36 months, according to the constitutional declaration adopted in March. The declaration stated that the parliament would exercise legislative powers until a permanent constitution was adopted and new elections were held. When it was first announced, critics of the declaration warned it concentrated power in Sharaa's hands and failed to reflect the country's ethnic and religious diversity. The authorities' ability to maintain stability and security, particularly for minority groups, has been repeatedly called into question by periodic outbreaks of violence in which government forces and their allies have been implicated.
MTV Lebanon
3 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
France to urge countries at UN to join ‘ambitious' push for Palestinian state
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot says France will use the international conference at the UN starting today to urge other countries to join it in recognising a Palestinian state. In an interview published in La Tribune Dimanche, Barrot said France intends to formally recognise a Palestinian state in September, during the annual UN General Assembly in New York – a move President Emmanuel Macron announced last week. 'We will launch an appeal in New York so that other countries join us to initiate an even more ambitious and demanding dynamic that will culminate on September 21,' Barrot said. He added that he expects Arab nations to condemn the Palestinian group Hamas and call for its disarmament by then.
Ya Libnan
14 hours ago
- Ya Libnan
Hezbollah commander Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail ‘killed' in Israeli strikes, claims IDF
Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war , the Israel Defence Forces on Saturday claimed to have killed a senior Hezbollah commander – Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail – in the Bint Jbeil sector, reported PTI . The IDF even claimed that Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail was one of the Hezbollah commanders who were involved in efforts to rehabilitate in southern Lebanon. In a post on X, the IDF said, 'ELIMINATED: Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail, a senior Hezbollah commander in the Bint Jbeil sector, involved in efforts to rehabilitate the terrorist organization in southern Lebanon. The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel.' Earlier, Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz visited the home of Sheikh Muafak Tarif in Syria's Julis – home of the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel. According to a statement by the Defense Ministry, Katz said the military would work to provide medical assistance to the Druze of southern Syria. In July, a Handala boat, carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid supplies approached the Gaza Strip , reported The Times of Israel , adding, they sailed from Sicily, following a month after Israel intercepted a different vessel that had made a high-profile attempt to break the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which operates Handala, also dispatched the earlier boat Madleen on a mission to challenge Israel's blockade on the Strip. The Times of Israel had earlier quoted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling former hostages and hostage families on Friday that the Donald Trump administration needs to 'rethink' its strategy regarding solving the war in Gaza . MINT
