Mysterious Airstrike Targets ‘Hezbollah’ Position in Syrian Desert

Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. (Reuters)
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. (Reuters)
TT
20

Mysterious Airstrike Targets ‘Hezbollah’ Position in Syrian Desert

Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. (Reuters)
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. (Reuters)

“Hezbollah” was dealt a new blow on Monday when at least nine of its members, including a top commander, were killed only two days after 14 party members were killed in an ISIS attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that a drone struck a “Hezbollah” position in the Syrian desert in eastern Homs, killing 10 of its members and injuring 20 others.

“At least ten members of the Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ party were killed in airstrikes by unidentified warplanes that targeted a site of the elite forces of ‘Hezbollah’ at dawn on Monday near the 3rd Station east of Palmyra,” the Observatory said.

It added that a field commander of the party’s Elite Force was among the dead.

The number of “Hezbollah” members killed in the past five days in the area extending from the western desert of Deir al-Zour to al-Sukhnah desert and the eastern countryside of Homs, has risen to at least 23.

Later, conflicting reports emerged concerning the identity of the warplane that targeted the party position in the western desert of Deir al-Zour city.

Websites close to the party reported that a US drone targeted the position, but the spokesperson of the US-led Coalition denied the reports, saying the location was outside its area of operations, Reuters reported on Monday.

Three sources familiar with the incident told Reuters that an air strike carried out by an unidentified warplane killed seven “Hezbollah” members in eastern Syria.

The identity of the warplane was not confirmed, but the sources did not rule out the possibility that it was Russian “friendly fire”.

Meanwhile, sources close to “Hezbollah” admitted that commander of its Intervention Unit, Abbas al-Asheq, was killed by land mines planted by ISIS in central Syria.

Abdel-Nasser al-Ayed, a researcher in Syrian military and strategic affairs told Asharq Al-Awsat that the position of the strike is located “outside the operation areas of the Coalition,” adding that US warplanes had long not flown in that area because it is covered by Russian radars.

The researcher speculated that the strike was Russian or Syrian friendly fire because the targeted position is close to where ISIS had advanced in the past couple of days.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
TT
20

Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.