File image.
Lebanon is growing wary that it won’t be spared in the case of a conflict between Iran and the United States, and that Syria, not Israel, could lead the charge against Hezbollah, Al Akhbar reported on February 5.
According to the Lebanese news outlet, level of concern increased significantly after high-ranking officials in Lebanon received information indicating that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said during a recent closed meeting with his senior officials: “Now it is Hezbollah’s turn, and we will not forget our revenge.”
“This statement cannot be separated from a broader context of field preparations on the border, and from the mobilization rhetoric that suggests a premeditated intention to exploit any regional development, especially any confrontation with Iran, to open a new front towards Lebanon from the eastern gate,” Lebanese security sources told the outlet.
The sources noted that this escalating rhetoric “is partly based on a political climate previously established by Sharaa himself, following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last December, when he announced Syria’s joining the campaign against terrorism. This announcement effectively provided American political cover for any subsequent security or military steps taken under this broad heading.”
“The Americans’ abandonment of the Kurds in eastern Syria sent a message to Sharaa that Washington supports a unified Syria under his administration, or at least does not oppose this course of action. This grants the new Damascus greater room for maneuver and reinforces its conviction that any security or military steps taken under the banner of combating terrorism will not face serious American objection, especially if directed against parties that Washington classifies as adversaries,” they added.
The sources further revealed that “concerns have increased with the observation of an unusual military deployment on the Syrian-Lebanese border, including units and fighters from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Uyghur countries, and other groups. These groups are known for their bloody history and for committing massacres. They were transferred from the front lines with areas formerly controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), raising questions about the nature of their planned role on the eastern border.”
“What is being prepared is being done indirectly with Israel, and that the introduction of groups specializing in massacres into the theater of operations is not a minor detail, but rather a very dangerous indicator,” the sources noted.
Shortly after overthrowing the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, a key ally of Hezbollah, the forces of the new Sunni Islamist-led government in Syria engaged in two rounds of deadly border clashes with Lebanese Shiite tribes affiliated with the group. Hezbollah denied any involvement, but was still blamed.
Later, Syrian government forces intercepted multiple arms shipments, which it alleged were heading to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Syrian government also accused Lebanon of sheltering officers from the former regime. Again, the accusations reached Hezbollah.
However, the most serious accusation against the group came earlier this month when the Syrian government said that it had detained a Hezbollah-linked cell responsible for several attacks on a key military airport near the capital, Damascus, where U.S. troops could soon be deployed. The group responded by denying any activities within Syria.
The sources who spoke to Al Akhbar described the latest accusations as “weak and flimsy” as Hezbollah today is in no position to intervene in Syria.
Al Akhbar’s report shows a major shift in Sharaa’s stance on Hezbollah. Last August, the Syrian president told a media delegation that he has chosen to “move past the wounds inflicted by Hezbollah on Syria.”
“Some portray us as terrorists and an existential threat, while others want to use the new Syria to settle scores with Hezbollah. We are neither,” Sharaa said at the public meeting.
The U.S. escalation against Iran, and Israel’s constant pressure on Hezbollah may have encouraged Sharaa to take a more aggressive stance.
That’s being said, fighting Hezbollah may not be the ultimate goal of Sharaa, but rather more of a pretext to intervene in Lebanon.
Hebrew and Arab media reports from last year said that Sharaa wants to annex parts of Lebanon, specifically the northern Sunni-majority port city of Tripoli, in exchange for relinquishing part of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to Israel. Recent weeks saw more calls by Sunni activists from Tripoli to separate and join Syria, citing negligence by the Lebanese government, in addition to religious reasons.
Still, a Syrian intervention of such a scale sparked a conflict with Lebanon as a whole, not just with Hezbollah. Even those now opposed to the group, like right-wing Lebanese Christian parties, could end up standing against any invasion by Sharaa.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
what a clown, i hope this headchopper gets overthrown one day like assad did
the evil juice thug will be reduced to bits and soon
spoken like the zionist bitch he is.
it’s all the fault of the pedophiles dump and putler. that’s how they made up their minds. i hope that after xi jinping dies, someone will come along who will drop atomic bombs on syria and wipe out the criminals from this filthy planet forever. that all of erdogan’s uyghurs who did not settle in syria will be killed and syria will be destroyed for another two hundred thousand years.
a terrorist joining the campaign against terrorism. that’s a new one. let’s be clear, according to western standards, ahmed al-sharaa is not a legit president.it seems that our ‘leaders’ in the west will share a bed with anyone. atrocities do not matter to those swigging cocktails in london, brussels, and washingtub. remember that next time you vote or chose a side in the coming civil wars. gov’ts can only ignore the people for so long.
i feel sorry for saif al-islam, the libyan hero and handsome man. he was a proud son of beautiful africa.it doesn’t matter who, what matters is that one day someone will get fed up with terrorists and that xi jinping won’t live forever. maybe someone will destroy syria forever with atomic bombs, never to exist again. i hope these dirty, ugly arabs are all killed by china, israel or india.
i just hope syria is more poisoned than it was in vietnam after agent orange and in ukraine after the chernobyl disaster. whoever poisons or infects syrians with ebola is doing the world a huge favor. all syrians deserve death and destruction. all of them. and i hope that putin’s deal is overturned and the democrats liberate donetsk, lugansk and crimea.
gaddafi and his son saif al islam were people. syrians are dirty rats who deserve to be poisoned and killed sometime.
the senile pedophile criminal dump no longer knows obama from monkey. putler have made a deal with him and given syria for stolen parts of ukraine. but the democrats will undo everything and the pedophile putler will pay for everything.