BEIRUT — The Lebanon-Syria border has witnessed violent clashes between Lebanese clans and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is trying to occupy and bombard some Lebanese villages using Shahin Turkush drones.

Meanwhile, dozens of people have fallen martyr while defending their towns, while hundreds were displaced in fear of HTS militants.

A statement issued by the Lebanese army says: “Based on the directives of the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, the army command issued orders to the military units – deployed on the northern and eastern borders – to respond to the sources of fire, which are launched from Syrian territory, and target Lebanese territory.”

The directive came after telephone conversations between President Aoun and his counterpart Al-Julani (Ahmad al-Sharaa), who allegedly agreed to coordinate to “control the borders of the two countries and prevent targeting civilians.”

The HTS systematic violence is obviously a blackmail battle launched by al-Julani and his Takfiri militias, a military source confirmed to the Tehran Times, pressuring President Aoun to release the terrorist prisoners from the Roumieh Central Prison consisting of Lebanese, Syrians and Arabs.

Recently, some Takfiri groups in Lebanon have tried to exploit the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government by demanding a general amnesty that would release those involved in various terrorist activities, including sabotaging Lebanese state property; kidnapping and killing members of the Lebanese army and security forces; forming armed groups; arms trafficking; etc. 

This coincided with promises made by al-Julani during successive visits made with him that he said he would pay great attention to this matter. 

In parallel, political and media pressure has intensified on Lebanon – parliament, administration and judiciary – to release them. 

While many fear that this issue will be a reason for exploding the internal situation and reactivating the Takfiri militias, some candidates for the parliamentary elections, scheduled for May 2026, are manipulating the issue on sectarian basis to incite the Sunni public opinion.

During his reception of a delegation of the families of these detainees, former PM Najib Mikati revealed that he had instructed the Minister of Justice to “assign a judge from the Public Prosecution Office, an officer from the Internal Security Forces, and a representative from the Red Cross to inspect the prisons and follow up on what is necessary, until the Parliament agrees on what it deems appropriate regarding the issue of general amnesty.”

Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir; Sheikh Khaled al-Muhammad, known as “Khaled Hablas”; Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujairi, nicknamed “Abu Taqiya”; and Sheikh Omar al-Atrash are among the most dangerous terrorists held on terrorism charges.

Reportedly, a prisoner did not commit suicide – as rumored – but was liquidated by these terrorists because he leaked information to the prison officers regarding their terrorist activities like: supervising terrorist operations, recruiting fundamentalists, and smuggling weapons between Lebanon and Syria.

In an audio recording by Hablas from inside the Roumieh prison, he said: “Today the Sunni giant has awakened [referring to Al-Julani], so do not go back in demanding our release ... It is time for this shackle to be broken.”

Despite this pressure, there have not yet been serious indications of the parliamentary blocs’ intention to pass a general amnesty law, especially since most of them – so far, since they have not received foreign orders – oppose turning general amnesty laws into a norm, which would facilitate the commission of terrorist crimes.

These parliamentary blocs have repeatedly called for reviewing the issued rulings to cancel those proven to have been issued based on statements extracted under torture and on trial procedures that do not conform to impartial trials. 

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, the number of prisoners in Lebanon is approximately 7,000 that 5,500 of them are held in the Roumieh Central Prison.

Due to Lebanon’s rampant judicial corruption, the Roumieh Prison is known for its poor detention conditions, including ill-treatment; torture during investigation and litigation procedures; overcrowding due to slow trials and corrupt judges resorting to pretrial detention; medical negligence that causes the spread of epidemics, etc.

The number of Takfiri detainees does not exceed 350 inmates, while the number of drug traffickers exceeds roughly 3,000, which means that a general amnesty law would wreak havoc on the social order and spread moral chaos. 

It is worth noting that a large number of Takfiris were arrested against the backdrop of the Arsal battle in August 2014. 

Families of Lebanese army martyrs entirely reject general amnesty and demand that President Aoun (who personally led the Arsal battle) abide by his pledge when he was the army commander not to be lenient on this issue.

Speaking to the Tehran Times, a father of one of the martyrs stated, “Al-Julani bears responsibility for killing and slaughtering our sons. He is a terrorist and a beheader. Even if he bathed in Zamzam water, he would remain a terrorist.”

In 2014, the town of Arsal, located on the Syrian border, witnessed the most painful memories in modern Lebanese history, when the Nusra Front, led by Al-Julani, kidnapped about 40 Lebanese soldiers (from the army and internal security forces) while they were performing their national duty. 

For months, these families lived a nightmare. Two soldiers were horribly executed, an event that shook Lebanese public opinion, while the others were released after complex and arduous negotiations. 

How can those grief-stricken families accept to bargain a terrorist –even if he currently wears a tie and a formal uniform– whose hands are stained with their beloved sons’ blood?