U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring Syria to join the fight against Hezbollah. His Syrian counterpart Ahmad al-Sharaa said he is not interested in this and claims Trump's comments were misinterpreted. However, Trump is further insisting on this idea. This is causing concern in Lebanon and Israel, reports UNN citing Associated Press News.
Details
In Trump's view, the battle-hardened, Islamist-led rebels who overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime a year and a half ago and formed a new government are better suited to rooting out Hezbollah than the Israeli army.
Although it remains unclear how seriously the White House is taking this proposal, the prospect of an invasion of Syria has alarmed Lebanon as well as Israel. The latter is suspicious of al-Sharaa's Islamist-led government
Context
On June 26, Israel and Lebanon signed a trilateral framework agreement in Washington. This document provides for the start of the withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of southern Lebanon.
On Saturday, June 27, Israeli forces carried out a drone strike on southern Lebanon - less than a day after reaching an agreement on the phased withdrawal of some troops from the region.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the US-brokered security agreement between Israel and Lebanon, calling it a "surrender to Israel."