![Walid Jumblatt (L), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), shakes hands with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) (R) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. [AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2190410175.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Lebanese Druze leader and former head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Jumblatt, has arrived in Damascus for his first visit to the Syrian capital since 2011.
The Druze delegation accompanying Jumblatt includes Sheikh Al-Akl of the Unitarian Druze community; Dr Sami Abi Al-Muna, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party; Taymour Jumblatt MP; and members of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, as well as a number of Druze sheikhs.
Jumblatt and the delegation were received by the head of the Syrian transitional government, Mohammad Al-Bashir. They also met Ahmed Al-Sharaa, leader of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad Al-Julani.
Jumblatt stressed during the meeting with Al-Sharaa that Lebanon and Syria suffer from a common threat represented by Israeli expansionist plans. He also said that he will submit a memorandum in the name of the Democratic Gathering on “Lebanese-Syrian relations”.
READ: Israel continues demolishing homes, uprooting orchards in south Lebanon