Is Ahmed al-Sharaa's government in Syria going to open a new front against Hezbollah in Lebanon?

 

Is Ahmed al-Sharaa's government in Syria going to open a new front against Hezbollah in Lebanon?

 

Hezbollah has refused to accept the US-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, calling it a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and an attempt to legitimize the Israeli occupation.

According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, in a statement issued on Saturday, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said that instead of this agreement, the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US should be implemented and resistance should continue until the Israeli withdrawal.

In such a situation, speculation about possible military operations against Hezbollah by Syria is gaining momentum.

One reason for these speculations is the repeated suggestion by US President Donald Trump that Damascus could intervene where Israel has ‘failed’.

It should be remembered that Trump has close relations with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa first met last year by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After the meeting, Trump described him as “young and attractive.”

He then became the first Syrian president to visit the White House in November.

In November 2025, Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House. ,Image sourceAnadolu via Getty Images

,Image captionIn November 2025, Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House.

Trump welcomed him in the Oval Office. He sprayed al-Sharaa with Trump brand cologne and then gave him enough perfume to take home for his wife.

What do the reports say about the Syrian-Lebanon border?

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an organization monitoring the situation in Syria, claimed in a report released on June 24 that Syrian army movements are continuing along the border in Homs province.

The organization says that the movement of troops is taking place in the border areas of Homs and extends to the Damascus suburbs of Rif Dimashq, Tartus and the Qalamoun mountain range.

SOHR claims that the Syrian government is moving heavy weapons and military vehicles from Aleppo to the border areas.

However, the organization has been making such claims for the past several months.

In an interview published on June 17, the organization’s director, Rami Abdel Rahman, said that fighters, including Uzbeks, have been practicing infiltration into Lebanon.

On June 24, a Syrian security source, speaking to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar, denied these claims and said that no unusual reinforcements had been delivered to the border.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Syrian security official said that the movement was part of a routine military deployment and did not indicate any unusual preparations.

What are the claims being made online

However, the claims about the Syrian army’s reinforcements to the border and Trump’s statements have sparked a wave of rumors on social media. However, most of these rumors are being spread by anti-Syrian government accounts.

The pro-Kurdish Rojava network has called these claims evidence that Damascus is preparing an attack.

Similarly, an Alawite Facebook page claimed on June 23 that about 5,000 fighters supporting the al-Sharaa regime had arrived in the border town of al-Qusayr ahead of a possible offensive. The report on the Facebook page said that a former jihadist commander was leading the military movement.

The claim was later debunked by the Syrian fact-checking platform Kashfaf.

Earlier this month, a Druze account shared a video that it claimed showed Syrian army reinforcements, including artillery and tanks, near the Lebanese border.

Why are these speculations arising?

These speculations have mostly arisen after Trump’s statements, in which he repeatedly said that Syria could play a role against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The US president first spoke about this in an interview with the American broadcaster NBC on June 7.

Trump said that he wanted to see “more surgical” operations against Hezbollah. He suggested that the US could “recommend” Syria to play a role in this.

On June 16, at the G-7 in France, Trump went a step further, saying that he had told Israel to “let Syria deal with Hezbollah” because Damascus could “do it better.”

On June 21, Fox News reported that Trump had told the channel that he was “disappointed” that Israel had not been able to eliminate Hezbollah and that he was close to “handing the matter over to Syria.”

Trump's statements come after the United States had made similar proposals.

In March this year, Reuters reported that Washington had asked Damascus to consider sending troops to eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah.

However, US envoy Tom Brake later denied the report.

Rumors of intervention in Lebanon and Syria's position

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and other officials have repeatedly denied that Syria is preparing a military intervention in Lebanon.

On June 13, President al-Sharaa told a delegation from the Damascus countryside that the rumors of an intervention in Lebanon were "false."

In a detailed interview with the UAE channel Al-Mashhad, Ahmed al-Sharaa once again addressed the issue.

In an interview published on June 21, he told prominent Lebanese journalist Tony Khalifa that “if we had the intention of engaging in a conflict or war, we would have said clearly… we want nothing but good for our people in Lebanon.”

 

He said that Syria could help find a “safe path” to a solution in Lebanon, but that did not mean that it wanted to reassert its influence over its neighbor as it had in the past.

A Syrian government spokesman also took a similar stance in an interview with the Saudi channel Al-Hadath on June 11.

Noureddine Al-Baba said that Damascus does not consider Lebanon as part of its territory and that any role for Syria in Lebanon requires coordination with the Lebanese government.

What is the position of Lebanon and Hezbollah?

Beirut has also tried to downplay these speculations.

According to state media, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on June 24 that Ahmed al-Sharaa’s recent statements had “put an end” to the frequent rumors about a Syrian military role in Lebanon.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also praised al-Sharaa’s stance in a recent TV interview, describing it as “fraternal and clear.”

He said it had put an end to misleading rumors about Syria’s intentions in Lebanon.

On the other hand, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a speech on June 19 that the idea of ​​a Syrian intervention was actually part of a US-Israeli conspiracy aimed at eliminating Hezbollah.

According to him, the plan includes “pressing Syria” to intervene in Lebanon from the east and, together with Israel, to surround it from the north.

‘Thank God the Syrian government didn’t respond.’