BEIRUT (AP) 鈥� As the White House has soured on in Lebanon, U.S. President has shocked many in the region by pushing an alternative: Let Syria fight the Iran-backed militant group instead.
He has suggested that the battle-hardened and Islamist-led insurgents who a year and a half ago and formed a new government would do a better job of rooting out Hezbollah than the Israeli army.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in doing so, and has asserted that Trump鈥檚 comments were misconstrued. But Trump has doubled down on the idea.
Although it remains unclear how serious the White House is about the proposal, the prospect of a Syrian invasion has raised alarms in Lebanon 鈥� and also in Israel, which regards al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led government with suspicion and since he took power.
Syria has also become the site of rising tensions between 鈥� a main backer of al-Sharaa’s government 鈥� with each seeking to limit the other’s influence in the neighboring country.
Top Israeli security officials convened a meeting on the subject on Wednesday, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Trump says Syria would 鈥榙o a better job鈥� against Hezbollah
On the sidelines of the G7 summit earlier this month, Trump complained that Israel鈥檚 war with Hezbollah is dragging on too long and 鈥渢oo many people are being killed.鈥�
More than 4,000 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Hezbollah with a March 2 attack on Israel, including hundreds of women and children. Israel says its strikes target Hezbollah and that it takes measures to protect civilians.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to knock down an apartment house every time you鈥檙e looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and they鈥檙e not all Hezbollah,鈥� Trump said.
鈥淚 suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah. 鈥楥ause to be honest with you, I think they鈥檇 do a better job.鈥�
Days later, on the first day of U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland, Fox News鈥� Trey Yingst said that, during an interview, Trump had expressed disappointment that Israel can鈥檛 鈥減ut Hezbollah away鈥� and said that he is 鈥渃lose to giving it to Syria鈥� because he thinks al-Sharaa would be more precise.
The White House declined to comment and referred to Trump鈥檚 previous statements.
Syria denies plans to intervene in Lebanon
Syrian officials scrambled to do damage control.
In a speech in Damascus on June 13, al-Sharaa said, 鈥淭here are people spreading rumors that Syria will intervene in Lebanon. This is not true. We are calling for a permanent end to the war and the strengthening of institutions and for there to be economic ties and a calming of the situation in Lebanon.鈥�
In a June 21 interview with the Emirati network Al Mashhad, al-Sharaa said Trump鈥檚 remarks had been misunderstood.
Trump 鈥渟poke about Syria鈥檚 role in finding a safe and peaceful solution, but the statement was misinterpreted as if Syria were going to invade Lebanon tomorrow morning,鈥� al-Sharaa said.
He said Syria had 鈥減resented our vision for a solution to the United States, which is to stop the war and address the negative effects on Lebanon and Syria, and to find different economic, political and social solutions.鈥�
Syria’s leaders say they don’t want to settle scores with Hezbollah
Hezbollah, along with Iran, intervened on the side of Assad during Syria鈥檚 14-year civil war, while al-Sharaa was the leader of an insurgent group seeking to overthrow him.
But the new leaders in Damascus have said since taking power in December 2024 that they are focused on rebuilding the country, are not seeking to settle scores, and want to remain outside of any regional conflict.
After Israel and the U.S. launched their war against Iran 鈥� which triggered a wider regional conflict 鈥� Syria made a point of .
In the first weeks of the war, the Syrian military sent reinforcements to the border with Lebanon, which officials said aimed to stop cross-border weapons smuggling or any spillover of the conflict. At one point in March, Syria accused Hezbollah of launching artillery shells across the border toward Syrian army positions, which Hezbollah denied. The escalation stopped there.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told The Associated Press in March that Turkey had .
Al-Sharaa told Al Mashhad that 鈥渢he decision of (Hezbollah) to enter into the Syrian conflict was wrong,鈥� but that he was willing to hold a 鈥渄ialogue鈥� with the militant group and even to mediate between different Lebanese factions as they debate .
Trump’s proposal dredges up sectarian fears and memory of occupation
In March, U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack denied reports that Washington had floated the idea of Syria intervening against Hezbollah.
But since then, Trump has begun to make the call openly.
Randa Slim, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said Trump鈥檚 proposal is, 鈥渁t best, driven by a profound ignorance of the dynamics on the ground.鈥�
鈥淪yria needs to focus on a myriad of complex and daunting challenges 鈥� not least rebuilding a shattered country and repatriating millions of refugees,鈥� she said. 鈥淪yrian forces are far from a coherent military institution; they include thousands of foreign jihadi fighters of uncertain loyalty and discipline.鈥�
In the months after Assad鈥檚 fall in Syria, there were several eruptions of violence between groups loyal and opposed to al-Sharaa that , in which Sunni Islamist fighters affiliated with the new government carried out attacks on Alawite and Druze civilians. The attacks triggered fears of cross-border violence among Lebanon鈥檚 Shiite, Christian and Druze populations.
Many Lebanese also have bitter memories of the of Lebanon, which began during the Lebanese civil war, initially at the request of Lebanese authorities and with the backing of Arab states, ending in 2005.
The official who spoke anonymously said that Israel is also concerned about some signs that Syria could assume its old role in Lebanese politics. But the official said while Israel is closely watching developments between Syria and Lebanon, its main concern is Hezbollah.
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Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed.
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