Trump told Israel to let Syria attack Hezbollah in Lebanon

Trump told Israel to let Syria attack Hezbollah in Lebanon MEE staff on Tue, 06/16/2026 - 16:57 Trump confirms reports originally denied by a senior US official that he mulled Syria invading Lebanon US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, during the G7 summit in Evian, eastern France, on 16 June 2026 (Mandel Ngan/AFP) Off US President Donald Trump said he wanted Syria to invade Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, saying that President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s forces could have done a better job against the group than Israel. "Israel's fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed...I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah," Trump told reporters sitting alongside Qatar’s ruler on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian, France. "He's very capable," he said, referring to Sharaa. “If Israel can’t do the job, without killing everyone else, he’ll do the job. Syria will do the job,” Trump added. Trump’s remarks are the second time this month that he has mulled the idea of Damascus intervening in Lebanon - a move that would likely reopen a historical tinderbox given Syria’s 1976 invasion of Lebanon and partial occupation of the country until 2005. Trump said on 7 June that Sharaa “would love to help” in Lebanon. The US president has often showered praise on Sharaa, describing him as “a very strong leader…a tough guy”. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Trump's remarks contradict directly with those of his own ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, who denied a story in March that the US lobbied Syria to invade Lebanon. Reuters reported first that the US was pressing Syria to send forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah. A wary Damascus The report said the US had approved a Syrian invasion of eastern Lebanon and that Damascus was “cautiously considering” the operation. It added that Sharaa’s government was wary that such a move could lead to Iranian missile attacks and potential unrest among minority Shia in Syria. The country has seen flare-ups of sectarian violence against Alawites, Druze and Christians. How Syria’s captagon trade shifted to Sweida after Assad’s fall Read More » Sharaa, 43, served roughly five years in a US prison after travelling to Iraq to repel the 2003 US invasion. He went on to found al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syrian branch. The deployment of troops loyal to Syria’s government would likely fan the flames of sectarian tensions in Lebanon, which experts warn are already being kindled by Israel’s attacks on the country. Sharaa’s support base includes Salafist fighters. Salafis belong to a Sunni movement adhering to a literalist interpretation of Islam, focusing on the traditions of the first three generations of Muslims. Hezbollah is the largest Shia party in Lebanon. It is both a political movement and a paramilitary group that has received support from Iran. Hezbollah fought on the side of former President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war. Sharaa’s militant group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, toppled Assad in December 2024. “He is very good with Hezbollah; he does not like them,” Trump said, describing Sharaa. But Sharaa’s government has said it has no plans to deploy troops to Lebanon. Syria was decimated by civil war and is in the infancy of rebuilding with the assistance of Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Sharaa also faces a fragile security situation on his own southern border. Israel took advantage of Assad’s downfall to occupy a United Nations buffer zone in southern Syria and launched powerful air strikes that reached the capital, Damascus, last summer. Israel is digging in on Syria’s Mount Hermon, the highest peak in the region. It has also sought to portray itself as a defender of Syria’s Druze minority by backing Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat Salaman al-Hajri with arms, experts say. Inside Syria News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

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