US pushing Syria to intervene in Lebanon against Hezbollah – report

American ambassador denies a report that the Trump administration is urging Syria to send forces into Lebanon against Hezbollah.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Trump administration is encouraging Syria to carry out a ground incursion into Lebanon with the aim of dismantling Hezbollah forces, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The report cited 10 different sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, including six Syrian officials, two Western diplomats, a European official, and one Western intelligence official.

The sources said that Damascus is mulling direct action against the Hezbollah terror group after the Lebanese government failed to disarm the Iran-backed organization.

The US is reportedly pressing Syria to commit to deploying troops to eastern Lebanon in order to assist Beirut in dismantling Hezbollah.

The idea was first broached last year, two Syrian officials said, but was ultimately rejected.

Since then, Syria has deployed thousands of troops and a number of rocket launchers to the Lebanese border.

Damascus has said the move is defensive in nature.

After the launch of the joint US-Israeli air campaign against Iran on February 28, and the resumption of large-scale hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, the US again approached Syria, proposing that the Syrian military intervene in eastern Lebanon.

While the new regime is dominated by radical Sunnis opposed to the Iranian regime and its proxies, including Hezbollah, the Syrian government is hesitant to commit to the US-backed plan.

Among other concerns, Damascus fears being dragged into an extended conflict with Hezbollah, which could also lead to reprisals by Iran.

An incursion into eastern Lebanon and clashes with Hezbollah could, Syria fears, spark a backlash from Syria’s Shi’ite minority.

The United States has denied it has encouraged Syria to deploy forces in Lebanon.

“Reporting regarding the United States encouraging Syria to send forces into Lebanon is false and inaccurate,” US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack wrote on X on Tuesday night. Barrack, who also serves as America’s envoy to Syria, has headed efforts by the Trump administration to secure the disarming of Hezbollah.