US wants intervention, but Syria signals diplomacy after FM’s Lebanon trip
Syria and Lebanon have long had a complicated relationship, with forces from each country intervening in the other over the years. United States President Donald
Syria and Lebanon have long had a complicated relationship, with forces from each country intervening in the other over the years. United States President Donald Trump has made clear that he would like yet another intervention – making repeated comments in recent weeks calling for Syria to take the lead in disarming the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Syrians have baulked at that idea, and the decision by Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani to include Lebanon’s parliament speaker, and key Hezbollah ally, Nabih Berri, among the officials he met during his trip to Beirut on Thursday, is another indication of Damascus’s position. Even with the Syrian government’s dislike for Hezbollah due to the latter’s military support for the former Syrian regime, it is clear that al-Shaibani’s boss, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has no appetite for a military adventure across the border. “A meeting with Berri signals a reversal from al-Shaibani’s visit last October, when he stayed away from the Shia leadership,” Nawar Hawach, the International Crisis Group’s senior Syria analyst, told Al Jazeera. “It shows that Damascus wants a working line to every Lebanese component, including the bloc closest to Hezbollah.” Troubled history If Trump had his way, Syria would be embarking on yet another chapter of its troubled relationship with its smaller neighbour, Lebanon. For decades, the relationship has been one where Syria either dominated or was greatly influential in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has also played its own military role in Syria in the past. Lebanon and Syria’s complicated relationship dates back to their foundation as nation-states. Some areas of modern-day Lebanon were administered together with parts of Syria during the Ottoman Empire period for centuries, until 1918. Both were then controlled by France, before gaining independence in 1946 – although people inside Lebanon disagreed over whether the country should be its own state or be part of a “Greater Syria”. Syria – under first President Hafez al-Assad and then his son President Bashar al-Assad – did occupy Lebanon from 1976 until 2005, when Syrian troops pulled out of the country after mass anti-Syrian protests.
But al-Assad continued to exert influence over Beirut through local political partners. That all changed in December 2024, when – after 13 years of war – Syrian opposition groups launched an operation to take government-controlled areas, including Damascus, from the grip of the al-Assad regime. With the latter finally out of power after decades, and his ally Hezbollah no longer welcome in Syria, it was a chance to reset the relationship between Damascus and Beirut. “Lebanese-Syrian relations can currently be defined as being in a delicate transitional phase, neither a return to the old tutelage model nor a complete break as in the post-2011 period,” Souhayb Jawhar, a Lebanese analyst with Badil, told Al Jazeera. “The new Damascus is attempting to rebuild its relationship with Lebanon under the banner of assistance and integration, not interference or the imposition of influence.” Hezbollah issue Part of the sensitivity between the Syrian government and Beirut is down to the role of Hezbollah. The group was long an ally to the al-Assad regime, both being part of the pro-Iran regional “axis of resistance”. When the time came to defend al-Assad in the early years of the war in Syria, Hezbollah responded to the call, and has been accused of carrying out attacks against Syrian civilians. The current Syrian authorities, therefore, have a history of fighting Hezbollah during the war, and many Syrians detest the group. Last year, the Syrian government blamed cross-border clashes with Lebanon on Hezbollah, though the group denied involvement. “Lebanese-Syrian relations look like a cautious reset toward normal state-to-state dealings, but not yet a stable partnership,” Hawach said. “Practical cooperation is advancing, while lingering mistrust and Lebanon’s internal divide over Hezbollah continue to impose a low ceiling on the relationship.” Hezbollah was weakened in 2024, when Israel killed most of its military leadership, including its longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, as it stepped up its attacks in Lebanon. But the group has shown that in the last few months of fighting with Israel that has not been completely demolished as a military force.
The BriefWire