Illustrative image. (Syrian Interior Ministry)
The Syrian Ministry of Defense has ordered new recruits to immediately join training courses as it sent more experienced units, including those with foreign jihadists, to the border with Lebanon, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on June 18.
The deployment, which was first reported by the United Kingdom-based monitoring group last week, is focused in the western Homs countryside, particularly in the city of Qusayr and areas to the south of it, which border the Lebanese governorates of Baalbek-Hermel and Beqaa.
According to the monitoring group, the units were deployed fully-equipped and have since been placed on “unprecedented alert.”
“The nature of the missions and objectives associated with these movements remains officially undisclosed,” SOHR said in a report from June 10.
United States President Donald Trump on June 16 suggested to Israel to let Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa “take care of Hezbollah” in Lebanon.
“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it,” Trump told reporters in France.
“If Israel can’t do the job [against Hezbollah] without killing everyone else, then [Sharaa] will do the job. Syria will do the job,” he added.
This was not even the first time Trump indicated that the U.S. was open to the idea of a Syrian intervention against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In an interview with NBC earlier this month, Trump praised Sharaa and said he is willing and capable of helping deal with the group. Nevertheless, the Syrian president later outright denied that Syria is planning to take military action against the group.
Hezbollah was a close ally to Assad, who was overthrown more than a year ago by a coalition of rebels led by none other than Sharaa himself.
Despite Sharaa’s denial, there have been increasing reports of Syrian military buildup along the border with Lebanon, and not just by the SOHR. Some rumors on social networks even claimed that salaries to up to $1,500 were being offered for mercenaries willing to fight against Hezbollah, and that the money would come from the U.S.
Hezbollah and its main ally Iran have so far remained silent over Trump’s latest remarks and recent reports of Syrian military buildup along the border with Lebanon.
While the allies will likely attempt to avoid a confrontation with Syria at all costs, any military move from the country is certain to meet a strong response.
Fighting could easily spread from Syria’s border with Lebanon to its border with Iraq, where Iran’s allies will not sit idly. Direct strikes from the Islamic Republic against Syria can’t be also ruled out. Sharaa is certainly aware of the risk, but it’s highly unlikely that he could refuse a demand from Trump who helped legitimize his rule.
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