Trump wants to intervene in Syria against Hezbollah ‘short-sighted’ | Israel is attacking Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon – After sitting with his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun, at the White House on Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump repeated the idea that Syria could intervene in Lebanon to “do something with Hezbollah”.

Despite widespread criticism, Trump has floated several times that Syria, led by the new president Ahmed al-Sharaa, could intervene in the neighboring country, whose government has been under pressure from the US and Israel to disarm the group supported by Iran.

“(Al-Sharaa) wants to come,” Trump said. “You know, he’s been fighting. He’s been fighting Hezbollah for a long time. I think it would be very useful. So that’s what I think,” he said.

But on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to be downplaying the prospect of action.

“Syrian officials are not supporters of Hezbollah, but what we have encouraged Syria to do is to focus on the challenges it has in building a nation,” he told reporters.

Hezbollah was a key ally of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before he was ousted in 2024 by fighters led by al-Sharaa.

According to Bassel Doueik, a political and security analyst, the military intervention in Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah “would be counterproductive” for the new Syrian authorities, who rejected the proposal.

“It could undermine the stable relationship with the Lebanese state and could inadvertently strengthen Hezbollah’s domestic agenda.” Hezbollah would characterize any war in Syria as foreign aggression, allowing the group to portray the situation as a refusal to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Syria’s hostility to Hezbollah

Syrian troops first entered Lebanon under Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, in 1976, during the early days of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). Syria occupied all of Lebanon (except the south, which was under Israeli control until 2000) for nearly 30 years, only withdrawing its forces after widespread protests in 2005.

When Assyrians revolted against their government in 2011, al-Assad responded with brutality and repression. When the opposition took up arms to retreat, Hezbollah intervened on al-Assad’s behalf.

This left a deep resentment among many Arameans that remains to this day.

However, experts believe that Syria’s intervention in Lebanon could cause sectarian conflict, bring all countries to war and disrupt the process of building a post-war Syrian government.

“The return of the Syrian army will reopen a deep wound in the political memory of Lebanon and provoke opposition even in the areas that are most opposed to Hezbollah, because it could revive many years of Syrian rule,” Nanar Hawach, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst on Syria, told Al Jazeera.

“Across the region, it would cast doubt on Syria’s claims that it has broken past practices, while implementing a fragile transition and risking turning Syria into a regional battleground,” Hawach said.

‘Recipe for disaster’

There are also fears that such a military intervention could destabilize Syria domestic securitywhile facing threats from remnants of the former regime and groups affiliated with ISIL (ISIS).

Samy Akil, a Syrian security analyst, said that despite Trump’s push, the intelligence and security community in the US realizes that the move could be a “catastrophic aid”.

The Syrian army would not be able to enter Lebanese territory at all – and if it was not possible to do so, it would be part of the regional agreement, he said.

“Entering Lebanon is easy, leaving Lebanon is always very difficult,” added Akil, calling the possible route “a short process”.

Methods of transmission

Trump’s comments came as the Lebanese army on Tuesday began setting up a “no-fly zone” as designated by the US. framework agreement which was signed between Lebanon and Israel last month which involves the gradual withdrawal of Israel and the deployment of Lebanese troops to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing a presence in the south of the country.

Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since October 2023, with varying degrees of severity, but the former escalated the conflict twice – first in September 2024 and then in early March of this year, following the start of the US-Israel war in Iran.

Hawach also said that Trump should push the issue of Syria’s intervention in Lebanon as a way to show that the US “has a lot of weapons in the Lebanese war, and distracts Hezbollah, Iran and Israel by putting some kind of pressure on each of them”.

“It also gives the story of having partners who can do what Israel hasn’t done so far,” Hawach said. “In the meantime, this gives Damascus an opportunity to look good by openly rejecting a role that would fuel tensions.”

Instead of taking action, Syria could support Lebanon by disarming Hezbollah in other ways.

“The reality is that it remains in Syrian territory, not in Lebanon,” Souhaib Jawhar, who is not based at the Beirut-Badil Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera.

“Strengthening the presence of the Syrian army on the Syrian side of the border, strengthening illegal crossings, closing or destroying the canals used for smuggling, and increasing the level of security information with the Lebanese army, all these are real and politically acceptable actions.”

Rubio also said that Syria could take action against Hezbollah without sending troops on the ground.

“Hezbollah is the enemy of the new government in Syria and in many ways they will want to disrupt the government in time, and one of the best things Syria can do to protect its future is to protect its border with Lebanon so that we do not have weapons and weapons coming back and forth across the border to disrupt Syria,” he said.