Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a closed security meeting on Syria and Lebanon amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about the possible entry of Syrian forces into Lebanon.
Israel strongly opposes the deployment of Syrian forces inside Lebanon, but officials fear Damascus may be taking steps in that direction. Netanyahu convened the meeting to prepare for such a scenario.
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Forces loyal to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Raqqa
(Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)
Trump told Fox News he was disappointed that Israel could not “put” Hezbollah away from the border. He said the Israeli military “can’t do anything without knocking buildings down,” and added that he was close to empowering Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa so Syrian forces could enter southern Lebanon and fight Hezbollah.
Al-Sharaa said Trump had expressed concern about developments in Lebanon and wanted to stop the fighting there. He said Trump had spoken about Syria’s role in finding a secure solution, but clarified that the remarks had been misinterpreted “as if Syria is about to invade Lebanon tomorrow morning.”
“We have a deep problem with Hezbollah, but we do not want all of Lebanon to die,” al-Sharaa said. “The country cannot remain trapped between the choices of civil war and war with Israel. Lebanon’s Shiites need calm, not more fear and confrontation.”
Al-Sharaa said Syria would sit at the same table with Hezbollah if doing so served both Syrian and Lebanese interests. He added that Hezbollah was undermining the Lebanese state’s authority over questions of war and peace.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump
(Photo: AFP PHOTO / SAUDI ROYAL PALACE / BANDAR AL-JALOUD)
At the G7 summit five days earlier, Trump was asked whether the agreement with Iran would “survive” if Israel attacked in Lebanon.
“Yes, it can,” Trump said. “And you know, I see that as the minor war, the Iran war is a big one. But we have the same little problem that keeps popping up over and over again, and that’s Hezbollah.”
It was then that Trump first publicly suggested Syria’s president could now be the one to “handle” the Shiite terrorist organization.