Trump Suggestion of a Syrian Crackdown on Hezbollah Confounds Many in Mideast

President Trump repeatedly floated the idea during peace talks that Syria could help subdue Hezbollah in Lebanon, the New York Times reported in a dispatch published 1 July, adding that the proposal revived bitter memories.

The suggestion, per the Times' headline, has confounded many in the Middle East. Corroborating coverage in The Times of Israel reports that Syria's foreign minister said Damascus was open to meeting Hezbollah after the President said it should fight the group — an indication, on that account, that the idea has entered the diplomatic record rather than remaining a stray remark.

The material supplied does not establish in what form the proposal was put, whether it constitutes stated American policy, or how Beirut and Hezbollah itself have responded; those elements remain unconfirmed. What is on the record is the Times' account that the idea was raised repeatedly in the course of peace talks, and the Syrian foreign minister's reported openness to contact with the group, per The Times of Israel.

Background

The “bitter memories” the proposal revives are specific: Syrian forces entered Lebanon in 1976, early in its civil war, and remained for nearly three decades as the dominant power in Lebanese politics, an era of occupation that ended only in 2005 with Syria's withdrawal under massive pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. For many Lebanese, any suggestion that Damascus should again act as enforcer inside Lebanon touches the rawest nerve in the two countries' entangled history.

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed movement that is at once a political party and the most heavily armed non-state force in the region, was the only faction to keep its arsenal after Lebanon's civil war, and disarming or subduing it has defeated every external and internal effort since. The added twist is that Syria's current leadership emerged from the opposition that fought a civil war in which Hezbollah intervened on the other side, in support of the Assad government — making Damascus and the group recent battlefield adversaries rather than the allies they once were.

What comes next

The reported opening to watch is the meeting the Syrian foreign minister said Damascus was open to holding with Hezbollah, per The Times of Israel — whether such contact materialises, and on what agenda. Beyond that, the unresolved questions are whether the President's suggestion hardens into stated American policy in the peace talks, and how Beirut and Hezbollah respond once positions are put on the record.