Damascus (AFP) – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa denied on Sunday that his country sought to intervene militarily in Lebanon where Israel and Hezbollah are at war, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested Damascus could get involved. “We are looking for economic channels between Lebanon and Syria, not military ones,” Sharaa said in an interview broadcast on television channel Al Mashhad.
On Sunday, Trump told Fox News he was “disappointed Israel can’t put Hezbollah away”, adding in reference to the fight against the militant group: “I’m close to giving it over to Syria.” Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of its backer Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes days earlier. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion. An Iran-US deal signed this week on ending the regional conflict includes Lebanon, where fighting has paused since Saturday evening.
At the G7 summit in France this week, Trump also said “if Israel can’t do the job (against Hezbollah) without killing everyone else, then he (Sharaa) will do the job. Syria will do the job.”
Sharaa said in Sunday’s interview that “we proposed with the United States that the war must stop,” adding that “there must be various solutions, including economic, political and social, and the re-establishment of relations and the vital economic lifeline between Syria and Lebanon.” “And alongside this, some security measures that respond firstly to Syrian and Lebanese concerns, and also Israeli concerns,” he added.
Hezbollah fought alongside longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in his country’s civil war, making Sharaa and the new authorities who toppled the former leader in 2024 deeply hostile to the group. Syria had dominated its neighbour for decades following its military intervention in Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, withdrawing only in 2005, making any new military involvement a fraught proposition.
Syria offers “many tools for having a positive impact within Lebanon, but this also depends primarily on Lebanon’s agreement,” Sharaa said. “Syria is greatly concerned with Lebanon’s domestic situation because Lebanon’s security and stability are part of Syria’s security and stability,” he added.
Responding to a question about whether he would sit at the table with Hezbollah, Sharaa said that “if this serves Lebanon’s interests and safeguards Syria’s interests, why not?” Earlier this month, Trump also told US broadcaster NBC that “I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah…And we can help them with that, or we can recommend Syria,” he said, adding that Sharaa “would love to help.”
© 2024 AFP
