{"id":496386,"date":"2026-06-16T23:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/496386\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T23:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:45:12","slug":"why-trumps-proposal-for-syria-to-fight-hezbollah-will-send-shudders-across-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/496386\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Trump\u2019s proposal for Syria to fight Hezbollah will send shudders across Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n US President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Israel allow Syria to \u201cdeal with Hezbollah,\u201d claiming Damascus would do a \u201cbetter job.\u201d The proposal, which Trump has now raised twice this month, touches on some of Lebanon\u2019s deepest anxieties: Syria\u2019s long history of interference in its affairs and the jihadist past of the country\u2019s new rulers.\n <\/p>\n

\n It is unclear exactly what Trump is suggesting \u2014 deploying Syrian troops to southern Lebanon, or having Syrian forces forcibly cut off weapons supply routes. Either option would stoke fear inside Lebanon.\n <\/p>\n

\n Syria dominated Lebanon\u2019s political scene for nearly three decades. Syrian forces first deployed into the neighboring country during its civil war in 1976 \u2014 ostensibly as peacekeepers \u2014 but remained long after the fighting stopped and maintained a prolonged military presence that is seen by many as an occupation.\n <\/p>\n

\n That period was marred by thousands of disappearances and deaths, shaping Lebanese distrust and complicating feelings toward Syria. Any renewed Syrian intervention inside Lebanon is likely to be very unpopular.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Iran-backed Shiite Lebanese militant group Hezbollah intervened on behalf of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war to preserve a vital arms supply route linking it to Iran and Iraq. It provided crucial military support to Assad\u2019s brutal hold on power.\n <\/p>\n

\"Syrian<\/p>\n

\n Their relationship was built on a shared enmity with Israel and a common alliance with Iran. That ended with the fall of Assad in 2024 and the rise of President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda jihadist who ejected Iran-backed armed groups from the country and has been leaning Westward since, winning repeated praise from Trump for being a \u201ctough guy\u201d and a \u201cfighter.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Last week, al-Sharaa denied reports of Syrian intervention in Lebanon, saying what is being circulated is \u201ccompletely false.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n A potential intervention by the hardline Islamist-rooted regime in Syria also risks upsetting the delicate sectarian balance that underpins Lebanon\u2019s political system, particularly given the leadership\u2019s past hostility to Shiites, who make up a significant proportion of Lebanon\u2019s population.\n <\/p>\n

\n Michael Young, a Lebanon expert and senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center and called it a \u201ccompletely absurd idea.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe sectarian dimension here is very risky. It would divide Lebanon and be a disaster. I think it\u2019s too much of a Pandora\u2019s Box. He (Sharaa) would be making a big mistake if he did it,\u201d he told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n The prospect of Syrian troops entering Lebanon is likely to raise alarm bells, as many come from factions within Islamist and jihadist backgrounds and have been accused of atrocities against minorities within Syria\u2019s own borders.\n <\/p>\n

\n Lebanon is a multi-sectarian society with over a dozen ethnic and religious minority groups, including one of the region\u2019s largest Christian populations.\n <\/p>\n

\"Hezbollah<\/p>\n

\n Some religious groups that oppose Hezbollah\u2019s presence in Lebanon, would nonetheless likely prefer the militant group over Syrian forces, according to Young.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou could potentially see the entry of a Syrian army dominated by Salafists\u2026it would create panic among Christians, Druze and Shias. They would not welcome this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would reinforce Hezbollah rather than weaken them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Just how firm al-Sharaa\u2019s hold on power is across Syria remains in question, especially over the army \u2014 an issue Young says would compound the disastrous nature of such a decision.\n <\/p>\n

\n Syria potentially taking part in efforts to address Hezbollah\u2019s role in Lebanon also risks dragging Lebanon back into a regional quagmire it has been trying to move past. The government has been trying to take back control of its own security in the face of Hezbollah\u2019s overwhelming military power.\n <\/p>\n

\n Lebanon\u2019s sovereignty is already under strain, with Israel refusing to withdraw its troops from the south of the country. A senior US official told CNN on Monday that the Trump administration\u2019s emerging ceasefire agreement with Iran does not include a requirement that Israel withdraw from Lebanon.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump has, however, has made clear his frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling reporters Tuesday he needed to be \u201cmore responsible with respect to Lebanon.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

\n Trump has clashed with Netanyahu several times in recent months, believing the Israeli leader and his government were making it more difficult for the US to strike a deal with Iran by attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a Monday evening news conference, Netanyahu reacted publicly for the first time to the US-Iran framework, saying he and Trump \u201cdo not always see eye to eye.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe is the president of the United States, and I am the prime minister of Israel. I am responsible for Israel\u2019s security interests, and it needs to be done wisely,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n He also made clear that Israel does not intend to withdraw from southern Lebanon, Gaza, or Syria, to \u201cdefend our country.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In a harsh reaction to Trump\u2019s Syria suggestion, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said, \u201cThe idea of entrusting our security into the hands of ISIS terrorists, beheaders and murderers of young girls will not happen.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Israel allow Syria to \u201cdeal with Hezbollah,\u201d claiming Damascus would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-496386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}