Pro-Regime Figures in Lebanon Facilitate Return of Displaced Syrians

Displaced people who fled the Syrian war sit on their belongings near the Lebanese-Syrian border as they prepare to return to their village of Beit Jinn in Syria, while Lebanese General Security soldiers stand guard, in the southern village of Shebaa, Lebanon, Wednesday, April, 18, 2018. (AP)
Displaced people who fled the Syrian war sit on their belongings near the Lebanese-Syrian border as they prepare to return to their village of Beit Jinn in Syria, while Lebanese General Security soldiers stand guard, in the southern village of Shebaa, Lebanon, Wednesday, April, 18, 2018. (AP)
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Pro-Regime Figures in Lebanon Facilitate Return of Displaced Syrians

Displaced people who fled the Syrian war sit on their belongings near the Lebanese-Syrian border as they prepare to return to their village of Beit Jinn in Syria, while Lebanese General Security soldiers stand guard, in the southern village of Shebaa, Lebanon, Wednesday, April, 18, 2018. (AP)
Displaced people who fled the Syrian war sit on their belongings near the Lebanese-Syrian border as they prepare to return to their village of Beit Jinn in Syria, while Lebanese General Security soldiers stand guard, in the southern village of Shebaa, Lebanon, Wednesday, April, 18, 2018. (AP)

Preparations for the repatriation of 450 Syrian refugees to their towns in the western Damascus countryside next week have revealed efforts by close associates of the Syrian regime in Lebanon to find settlements for Syrians wanted by the authorities.
 
Current efforts are focused on guaranteeing the return of the wanted individuals under Russian and Syrian guarantees that they would not be arrested. However, the plan would not exempt those people from compulsory military service.
 
The repatriation of Syrian refugees is being implemented in three separate axes. The first is conducted by Syrians who have connections with the refugees in the camps and who have organized three convoys starting from June 2017 towards the western villages of Qalamoun.
 
The second is handled by Hezbollah, which has recently announced a plan to facilitate the return of the displaced, through communication with the Syrian regime. The third is led by Lebanese figures and aims to facilitate the return of Syrian regime opponents and deserters, who have entered Lebanon illegally between 2011 and 2013.
 
Efforts to repatriate the last category have shown that the Syrian regime has expanded the efforts of reconciliation to include hundreds of opponents in Lebanon, who live in the central and western Bekaa regions.

Lebanese Zafer al-Nakhlawi, along with other Lebanese figures close to the Syrian regime, are coordinating with the office of Major General Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian Regime head Bashar al-Assad. The displaced are receiving guarantees from Damascus and Russia.
 
Nakhlawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that settling the status of regime opponents “will encourage others, who do not have any security files, to return to their country.”
 
He said that he provided lists of hundreds of people originally from the Damascus countryside, in order to get the authorities’ approval on their return in batches.
 
Nakhlawi, a Lebanese from the Bekaa region, says he does not belong to any political party, but has “relations” with Syrian figures that allowed him to take on this mission, which he describes as aimed at “helping the Lebanese and Syrians to coordinate the return of the displaced.”
 
Nakhlawi said that a new batch of Syrian dissidents is seeking to return next week, including 450 people who will head to the towns of Zabadani and Bloudan in the western suburbs of Damascus.



Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
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Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the first targeted killing in the area for several months.

In a statement, Israel's military did not give the identity of the targeted person. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Lebanese state media said a car had been hit near Tripoli and the health ministry reported two people were killed and three others wounded, without identifying them, Reuters reported.

Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups maintain a presence in various areas of Lebanon, mostly in camps that have housed displaced Palestinians for decades.

Since Hamas' cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in 2023, Israel has carried out targeted strikes on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah as well as members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

Hamas' deputy chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in early 2024, and other strikes hit Palestinian camps in northern Lebanon.

A US-brokered ceasefire last year ended the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, though Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon.

Tuesday's strike near Tripoli was the first time a targeted assassination had taken place in the area since the truce.

Meanwhile, US envoy Thomas Barrack continued a two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss disarming Hezbollah and other militant groups.