Hezbollah to Stay In Syria, Despite Bassil’s Assurances

Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
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Hezbollah to Stay In Syria, Despite Bassil’s Assurances

Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, who was killed in an attack in Syria, during his funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, May 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil’s announcement that Hezbollah had begun to think about returning from Syria seems to be drifted from the current reality.

Bassil’s call on the Lebanese to embrace and support Hezbollah’s decision was not met by any official statement by the party’s leadership in this regard. On the contrary, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah had confirmed, four months ago, that his party would not withdraw from Syria as a result of the Israeli airstrikes.

The FPM chief has pointed on more than one occasion to Hezbollah’s military engagement outside the Lebanese borders, declaring his rejection to this matter. However, he explicitly announced on Sunday that the party was thinking of returning to the Lebanese interior. His statements drew local and foreign attention.

While officials in Hezbollah declined to comment, sources close to the party said that there was “nothing serious and new that needs to be announced regarding the presence in Syria.”

“The party’s mission there mainly falls within the framework of carrying out tasks, as additional groups and members from Lebanon are heading towards the Syrian interior when there is a task that must be carried out in a certain region,” the sources revealed.

They continued: “Over the past two years, the party’s role in Syria has changed a lot with the decline in combat operations. As for the withdrawal, it is linked to the withdrawal of all foreign fighting forces, and this is supposed to happen within two years.”

The party refuses to set a date for its departure from Syria. In earlier statements, Nasrallah said the withdrawal would come upon a request by the Syrian leadership.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel-Rahman noted that the current mission of Hezbollah in Syria was to compensate for the inability of the regime forces to control all of the Syrian territories.

“Whenever the Iranian decision to remove Hezbollah from Syria is taken, the withdrawal will take place. We do not see any signs in this direction now, especially in light of Iran’s efforts to recruit more fighters,” he said.

In July 2020, Nasrallah announced that his party had reduced its forces in Syria, pointing to the “diminishing intensity of fighting on the Syrian land.”

Shortly after, he stressed that Hezbollah’s fighters would remain in all places where they had previously been deployed

The head of the Middle East and Gulf Center for Military Analysis - Inegma, Riad Kahwaji, referred to information about withdrawals carried out by Hezbollah from Syria, stating that the number of its fighters there has decreased by 50 percent.

“There are clear efforts being made to reduce the tension between Israel and Iran, especially on the Syrian arena. Therefore, the party finds an interest in reducing its presence there, especially after its bases have become exposed throughout the Syrian soil,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.



Lebanon Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israeli Strike in South 

Mourners attend the funeral of Hezbollah fighters, killed before the November 27 ceasefire with Israel, in southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel on April 6, 2025. (AFP)
Mourners attend the funeral of Hezbollah fighters, killed before the November 27 ceasefire with Israel, in southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel on April 6, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanon Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israeli Strike in South 

Mourners attend the funeral of Hezbollah fighters, killed before the November 27 ceasefire with Israel, in southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel on April 6, 2025. (AFP)
Mourners attend the funeral of Hezbollah fighters, killed before the November 27 ceasefire with Israel, in southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel on April 6, 2025. (AFP)

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike in the country's south killed one person Monday, the latest such raid despite a delicate truce between Israel and Hezbollah, and after a US envoy visited.

The "Israeli enemy" drone strike on the town of al-Taybeh near the border "led to the death of one citizen", the health ministry said in a statement.

An Israeli security source said the Israeli military "struck a Hezbollah terrorist" in the Taybeh area.

The official National News Agency (NNA) said the strike hit "in front of a motorcycle repair shop" in the town, in south Lebanon's Marjeyoun district.

Israel has continued to launch strikes on Lebanon since a November 27 ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of total war.

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on Sunday killed two people in south Lebanon's Zibqin, as the Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah operatives in the area.

Israeli strikes last week also targeted other south Lebanon locations and even Hezbollah's south Beirut bastion.

The NNA also reported Israeli strikes on prefabricated homes in south Lebanon's Naqoura area on Sunday. Such homes have usually been set up for returning residents whose homes were destroyed in the conflict.

The truce accord was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.

Visiting US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus discussed the situation in south Lebanon and economic reforms with senior Lebanese officials at the weekend, with talks also addressing Hezbollah's disarmament.

In an interview with Lebanese television channel LBCI broadcast on Sunday, Ortagus said Washington continued to press Lebanon's government "to fully fulfil the cessation of hostilities, and that includes disarming Hezbollah and all militias", adding it should happen "as soon as possible".

Hezbollah was left severely weakened in the latest conflict with Israel.