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Trump’s Syria proposal
Residents in Damascus rejected US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Syria should confront Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying Syria should avoid being drawn into new regional conflicts.
In a bilateral meeting on June 16, Ahmad al-Sharaa told Israel, "If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, Syria should do the job," and added, "I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah, because to be honest with you, I think they'd do a better job of doing it."
The Jerusalem Post reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to call for a Security Cabinet meeting on Wednesday regarding Syria in connection with Lebanon after Trump’s comments about handing over responsibility for Hezbollah to al-Sharaa.
Al Jazeera said Trump told Israel to let Syria take on Hezbollah, and that Trump later stated he had spoken by telephone with Netanyahu and informed him that "Syria will now take care of the Hezbollah issue."
Al-Sharaa denies military role
In an interview with Dubai-based Lebanese outlet Al Mashhad, al-Sharaa denied that "his country sought to intervene militarily in Lebanon where Israel and Hezbollah are at war" and said, "We are looking for economic channels between Lebanon and Syria, not military ones."
The Jerusalem Post also quoted al-Sharaa saying, "Lebanon needs joint solutions, and Syria is ready to anchor a new security path... Our goal is to back the Lebanese state, strengthen its institutions," and that "Syria can be relied upon to find a safe path toward a solution, but this does not mean war."
Ynetnews reported that al-Sharaa clarified Trump’s remarks had been misinterpreted "as if Syria is about to invade Lebanon tomorrow morning," and said, "We have a deep problem with Hezbollah, but we do not want all of Lebanon to die."
Ynetnews added that al-Sharaa said Syria would sit at the same table with Hezbollah if doing so served both Syrian and Lebanese interests, and that Hezbollah was undermining the Lebanese state’s authority over questions of war and peace.
Israel’s fears and next steps
The Jerusalem Post said Israel fears a return to the 2005 status quo and saw indications that Syria is looking to seize control of parts of Lebanon, with N12 reporting analysts believe the Syrian regime is strengthening influence in border areas and moving to take control of Lebanese power centers.
An Israeli official told N12, "This is like tossing a match into a powder keg; we will get al-Qaeda and [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan on our northern border," in response to Trump’s proposed solution of handing over the Hezbollah issue to Syria.
Ynetnews said Netanyahu convened a meeting to prepare for a scenario in which Damascus may be taking steps toward deploying Syrian forces inside Lebanon, while Trump told Fox News he was disappointed that Israel could not "put" Hezbollah away from the border.
At the G7 summit five days earlier, Trump was asked whether the agreement with Iran would "survive" if Israel attacked in Lebanon, and Trump replied, "Yes, it can," while describing Hezbollah as the "minor war" that keeps "popping up over and over again."
