Trump Suggests Syria Handle Hezbollah, Sparking Tensions with Israel and Lebanon

United States President Donald Trump has triggered a wave of diplomatic controversy after suggesting Israel allow Syria to handle the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Trump claimed that Damascus would do a better job of curbing the power of the Iran-backed group. The proposal, made twice this month, touches on old wounds and deep anxieties in Lebanon, given the long history of Syrian military intervention in the country and the jihadist background of Syria’s new rulers. Trump’s statement emerged amid rising tensions between himself and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump openly expressed his frustration and asked Netanyahu to take more responsibility regarding Lebanon. Trump believes that Israeli attacks on Hezbollah are complicating US efforts to reach a major deal with Iran. However, Netanyahu reacted sharply to the US-Iran framework. “He is the President of the United States and I am the Prime Minister of Israel. I am responsible for Israel’s security interests,” Netanyahu stressed at a press conference on Monday evening. He also confirmed that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, or Syria. In Lebanon, the prospect of renewed Syrian influence is viewed as a threat to sovereignty. Syria dominated Lebanon’s political stage for nearly three decades from 1976, a period marked by thousands of enforced disappearances and deaths. The relationship between Syria and Hezbollah has changed drastically. While they were previously allied under Bashar al-Assad, Assad’s fall in 2024 brought Ahmad al-Sharaa to power. Al-Sharaa, a former jihadist now leaning towards the West, expelled Iran-backed armed groups from Syria. Michael Young, a Lebanon expert at the Carnegie Middle East Center, called Trump’s idea completely nonsensical. He argued that Syrian intervention risks damaging Lebanon’s fragile sectarian balance. “The sectarian dimension here is extremely risky. It would divide Lebanon and be a disaster. The entry of a Syrian army dominated by Salafi groups would create panic among Christians, Druze, and Shia. This would actually strengthen Hezbollah’s position rather than weaken it,” Young explained to CNN on Tuesday. Despite receiving praise from Trump as a strongman and a fighter, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa last week denied reports of plans for military intervention in Lebanon. He stressed that the circulating reports were entirely false. It remains unclear whether Trump’s proposal entails deploying Syrian troops to southern Lebanon or simply forcibly cutting Hezbollah’s weapons supply lines. However, either option is certain to drag Lebanon back into a wider regional conflict.