Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt: Arab Countries' Borders With Israel Need To Be Opened; Hamas And The People Of The West Bank Needed To Be Given Weapons; I Call For A Return To The Armed Struggle

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt called in an August 27, 2024 interview with Al-Araby TV (Qatar) on the Palestinian Authority to change its position regarding armed struggle and the distribution of weapons in the West Bank. He said that it should return to the policies held in the beginning of the Fatah movement. Jumblatt further called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League to be mobilized, on the borders with the West Bank to be opened, and for the people in the West Bank to be given weapons.

Walid Jumblatt: "There needs to be a [united] Arab position. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League should be mobilized. Practically speaking, the people of the West Bank need to get weapons, Hamas needs to get weapons... They have weapons... Open the borders, so long as the war is raging."

Interviewer: "So you are calling to arm the people of the West Bank..."

Walid Jumblatt: "Yes."

Interviewer: "But some may say that the fact that they do not have weapons spares them the fate of the Gaza Strip."

Walid Jumblatt: "Who can guarantee that the people of the West Bank will not be forced to leave in the distant future?"

Interviewer: "So you are calling for a return to the armed struggle?"

Walid Jumblatt: "I am calling for the Palestinian Authority – which has gone missing – to change its position. It is high time that this Authority adopted a clear position, even regarding the distribution of weapons and the armed struggle – just like at the beginning of the Fatah movement. Yes."