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The United States pushed for Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to be drawn into the conflict, Reuters reported on March 17.
Five sources, two of whom are Syrian officials, told the news agency that the idea was first discussed by U.S. and Syrian officials last year.
They said that the proposal was raised again by U.S. officials around the time the American-Israeli war on Iran started. The two Syrian officials said that the request arrived shortly before the attacks began, while a western intelligence source said that it came shortly after the strikes started.
According to the report, which cites ten sources including six Syrian officials and government advisers, Damascus had been cautiously considering a cross-border operation but remained hesitant.
There have been growing signs of a possible Syrian intervention against Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel is currently conducting a military operation in parallel with the war on Iran.
Hezbollah, a Shia group, was a close ally to Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown more than a year ago by a coalition of Sunni Islamist rebels led by current Syrian president, Ahamd al-Sharaa.
Syria began deploying reinforcements along the border with Lebanon weeks before the start of the war, and last month Lebanese Al Akhbar reported that high-ranking officials in Lebanon received information indicating that Sharaa said during a closed meeting with his senior officials: “Now it is Hezbollah’s turn, and we will not forget our revenge.”
Shortly after the outbreak of the war on Iran, Syria escalated against Hezbollah by accusing the group of firing mortars across the border close to Damascus.
Later, Sharaa went on to declare his support to efforts to disarm Hezbollah during a phone call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. He affirmed that this step is “essential for solidifying Lebanese state sovereignty and shielding the region from the repercussions of ongoing regional armed conflicts,” according to a readout of the call published by SANA.
Sharaa’s hesitation to join the war against Hezbollah may have provoked Israel. On March 17, i24NEWS reported that the Israeli military struck a truck carrying weapons in Syria overnight. A strike was indeed reported in the countryside of the southern Syrian governorate of al-Suwayda, close to the border with Jordan.
Al-Suwayda is held by Druze armed factions backed by Israel, which reportedly warned Sharaa against moving there during the war with Iran.
i24NEWS described the latest strike as “dramatic,” because Israel has not carried out a “war-between-the-wars” operation in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, and “in addition, it has not attacked Syrian regime assets since the beginning of the talks” mediated by the U.S.
Syria’s hesitation over going into Lebanon has legitimate reasons. While Hezbollah, which is currently facing an intense aerial campaign and a ground offensive by Israel, will be easily overwhelmed by a Syrian invasion from the east, such a move would likely be met with a fierce response from Iran and the other allies of the group.
What is left of the country’s infrastructure after 14 years of war would be completely exposed to retaliatory strikes from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.
Sharaa does not seem to be enthusiastic about such a confrontation. However, the latest Israeli strike indicates that Israel and the U.S. may be willing to force it on him.
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