Above: Jumblatt (left) welcomes Safa (middle) and Khalil (right) into his home.
On August 11, a meeting was held between Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze faction in Lebanon which is not considered to be part of Hezbollah, and senior Hezbollah officials – Wafiq Safa (responsible for the coordination and liaison unit in the Executive Council and Nasrallah’s “man for special tasks”) and Hossein Khalil (member of the Shura Council and his political advisor and close confidant of Nasrallah).
The meeting was held among other things in the context of the naval negotiations and Hezbollah’s statements/threats on the subject. Hezbollah’s officials apparently conveyed a message to Jumblatt, that if Israel does not meet Lebanon’s demands, then the chance of war with it increases.
The senior status of the Hezbollah’s officials who came to the meeting hints at the great importance of the meeting in the eyes of Nasrallah. This is apparently part of Hezbollah’s campaign to prepare Lebanese public opinion for war with Israel, and Nasrallah’s attempt to gain the support of the Druze or at least ensure they remain passive and do not oppose Hezbollah’s intentions and activities being prepared against Israel.
In our estimation, this is another indication of Hezbollah’s intentions and desire to start a military conflict with Israel, if the naval negotiations fail and Israel will start producing gas from the “Karish” gas rig in September 2022.
