Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed during a meeting with members of the Druze community in Yarka that he had spoken directly with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (Al-Jolani) during the violence in Sweida in July 2025.

According to Netanyahu,

“I called Al-Sharaa. It was a very short and sharp conversation. I told him: Stop. And the massacre stopped.”

Netanyahu also pledged to continue intervening to protect Syria’s Druze community, declaring:

“I will do whatever is necessary to protect our Druze brothers. We still have work to do, and I cannot reveal everything.”

What is particularly revealing is Netanyahu’s public acknowledgment of direct communication with Syria’s leadership and his claim that his intervention stopped the killings. However, there is no independent confirmation that the phone call was responsible for ending the violence.

His remarks raise serious questions about the nature of communications between Damascus and Tel Aviv and the extent of Israeli intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.

LEBANON | Israeli Occupation Forces Bring Military Equipment into the South While Lebanese Authorities Seize Resistance Explosives — Where Is the Sovereignty?

October 15, 2026

In a striking contradiction that raises serious questions about the Lebanese authorities’ priorities, reports indicate that Israeli military vehicles carrying ammunition entered the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, even as controversy grows over the confiscation of a shipment of explosives that Hezbollah says was intended for operations against Israeli occupation forces.

Lebanese journalist Hassan Al-Dorr commented:

“The Israeli enemy transports a shipment of explosives into Zawtar al-Sharqiyah right before the authorities’ eyes, while those same authorities confiscate a shipment of explosives intended to confront that very enemy!”

POLITICAL ASSESSMENT: From the resistance’s perspective, the contradiction is clear: the Lebanese state demands a monopoly over weapons while remaining unable to end the Israeli occupation or prevent continued Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory.

What kind of sovereignty is established by confiscating weapons reportedly intended to confront an occupation, while Israeli forces continue violating Lebanon’s borders?

The state’s exclusive authority over weapons is a fundamental matter of sovereignty, but it cannot be separated from its responsibility to defend Lebanese territory, protect its people, and end the occupation.

True sovereignty begins at the borders — not by ignoring the occupation while focusing solely on the resistance’s weapons.