Videos from Sweida showing human rights abuses during recent military operations have reignited Lebanon’s debate over Hezbollah’s refusal to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese Army.
The footage, widely shared in Lebanon, depicts violations by militias entering Druze villages in southern Syria. In one striking image, turbans belonging to Druze sheikhs are thrown to the ground, and in another, a turban is shown wrapped around a soldier’s boot—an act seen as extreme humiliation.
Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon shared the images, calling them a “clear example of what could happen if the Sunnis enter Lebanon.” They claimed these acts justify the need to keep their arms “now more than ever.”
Their fears were amplified by a recent statement from U.S. envoy Thomas Burke, who spoke of Lebanon “returning to the Levant.” Though he later clarified this as support for regional planning and not a direct threat, Hezbollah backers interpreted it as a U.S.-backed plan to annex Lebanon into Syria using Syrian fighters.