The United States has encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to ‌embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions, five ​people briefed on the matter said. The proposal to Syria’s U.S.-allied government reflects intensifying moves to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah, which opened fire at Israel in ⁠support of Tehran on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

The idea was first discussed by U.S. and Syrian officials last year, said two of the sources – both Syrian officials – and two others familiar with the discussions. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The idea was raised again by U.S. officials around the time ‌the U.S. and Israel began their war against Iran. The two Syrian officials said a U.S. request came shortly before the war began. A Western intelligence source said it was just after it started.

Reuters spoke to 10 sources for this article – six Syrian officials and government advisors, ‌two Western diplomats, a European official and a Western intelligence source. All said Syria’s Sunni Islamist-led government had been cautiously considering a cross-border operation but remained ‌hesitant.

U.S. ⁠encouragement for a Syrian operation in eastern Lebanon and Syria’s hesitation to carry one out have not previously been reported.

A U.S. State Department ⁠spokesperson declined to comment on “private diplomatic communications”, and referred Reuters to the Syrian and Lebanese governments for comments on their operations.

After this story was published, U.S. envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, who is also ambassador to Turkey, posted on X that “reporting regarding the United States encouraging Syria to send forces into Lebanon is false and inaccurate.”

Damascus offers assurances to Lebanon

Despite historic enmity towards Hezbollah and Tehran – both fought ​alongside Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s 2011-24 civil war – Syrian President Ahmed ‌al-Sharaa has moved cautiously since U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on February 28.

One source, a senior Syrian official, said Damascus and its Arab allies agreed Syria should stay out of the war, and take only defensive measures.

Damascus has deployed rocket units and thousands of troops at the Lebanese frontier since early February, calling these measures defensive.

Syria’s ministries of foreign affairs and information did not respond to requests for comment.

Responding to questions from Reuters, Lebanon’s presidency said it had not ‌received any “hint or notice from the U.S., the West, the Arab countries or Syria” about U.S.-Syria discussions on a potential cross-border operation.

Lebanese President Joseph ​Aoun had held a bilateral call with Sharaa, and a trilateral call also involving France’s president, in which Sharaa said Syria respected Lebanon’s sovereignty and had no intervention plans, the presidency said.

It said Lebanon coordinates with Syria on border arrangements but has never discussed Hezbollah ⁠with Damascus.

Lebanon’s military said channels of coordination with Syria remained open “within the framework of addressing border issues and common security challenges”, with the aim of preventing tensions or incidents and ensuring stability in the border area.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Sharaa had told him “the reinforcement of the military presence along the Syrian-Lebanese border aims solely to strengthen border ‌control and maintain internal Syrian security”, and that Sharaa underlined the importance of continued coordination.

Aoun has pursued a policy aimed at securing Hezbollah’s disarmament but Beirut has moved cautiously, with Hezbollah wielding a potent arsenal and enjoying significant support among Lebanese Shi’ite Muslims.

Sharaa has said he supports Aoun’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Damascus sees risk of Iranian attack

The senior Syrian official said Washington had given the green light for an operation into eastern Lebanon to help Lebanon disarm Hezbollah – when the time is right.

But Damascus saw risks including possible Iranian missile attacks and potential for unrest among minority Shi’ites, threatening efforts to stabilise Syria after sectarianviolence last year.

Two Western diplomats also said Washington had approved the idea of a Syrian cross-border operation against Hezbollah. The Western intelligence source and a European official said the U.S. had asked Syria’s army to play a ‌more active role countering Hezbollah in Lebanon, including via a possible incursion into the east.

The Western intelligence source and the European official said Syria’s leadership was wary of entering Lebanon as this could inflame ​bilateral tensions.

A Syrian military official said there was no final decision yet on any possible operation inside Lebanon, but the option of intervening in the event of a conflict between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah remained on the table.

Syrian domination under Assads

Syria long dominated ⁠Lebanon under the Assads, sending in forces in 1976 during the 1975-90 civil war at the invitation of President Suleiman Frangieh and controlling Lebanon’s post-war politics until its withdrawal in ⁠2005.

Any Syrian intervention could fuel sectarian tensions in both Syria and Lebanon, home to a mosaic of sects including Sunnis, Christians, Druze and Shi’ites.

In a March 13 interview with Lebanese broadcaster MTV, Syrian Defense Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Hassan Abdel Ghani said the build-up at the border was a defensive measure. ‌There was a high level of coordination with Lebanon’s army, he said, and Sharaa supported the establishment of Lebanese state authority over Lebanon.

Last week, Syria’s army said Hezbollah artillery shells landed in a border village. Hezbollah had said it had repelled an Israeli attempt to infiltrate Lebanon from the same village. Israeli officials ​said they were unaware of any such operation. The Syrian army said it was “considering appropriate options to take the necessary actions” in response.

Published – March 18, 2026 05:55 am IST

This handout picture released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) being received by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), in Damascus on December 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Two weeks after seizing power in a sweeping offensive, Syria’s new leader Muhammad al-Jolani (Ahmed al-Sharaa) has stepped up regional contacts, vowing in a meeting on Sunday (December 22, 2024) not to “negatively” interfere in neighbouring Lebanon.

Jolani also met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, video released by the Anadolu state news agency showed, after Ankara-backed militants played a key role in supporting his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which seized Damascus on December 8 and ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry released no details of where the meeting took place in the Syrian capital.

Turkiye has maintained strong ties with Syria’s new leaders, and Ankara’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in Damascus just four days after Mr. Assad fell.

Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is also in direct contact with Syria’s new authorities, having supported the opposition to Mr. Assad for years during Syria’s civil war, and will send a delegation to the country soon, Syria’s Ambassador in Riyadh said.

During his meeting with visiting Lebanese Druze chiefs Walid and Taymur Jumblatt, Jolani said Syria will no longer exert “negative interference in Lebanon at all”.

He added that Damascus “respects Lebanon’s sovereignty, the unity of its territories, the independence of its decisions and its security stability”.

Syria “will stay at equal distance from all” in Lebanon, Jolani added, acknowledging that Syria has been a “source of fear and anxiety” for the country.

Walid Jumblatt, long a fierce critic of Mr. Assad and his father Hafez who ruled Syria before him, arrived in Damascus Sunday at the head of a delegation of lawmakers from his parliamentary bloc and Druze religious figures.

The Druze religious minority is spread across Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

He met with Jolani at the presidential palace, where the new Syrian leader wore a suit and tie instead of the olive-green military shirt he sported just days ago.

Walid Jumblatt accuses the former Syrian authorities of having assassinated his father in 1977 during Lebanon’s civil war.

The Syrian army entered Lebanon in 1976, only leaving in 2005 after enormous pressure following the assassination of former prime minister Rafic Hariri, a killing attributed to Damascus and its ally, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

‘Insecurity’

Mr. Assad was an adherent of the Alawite offshoot of Shia Islam and projected himself as a protector of the country’s religious and ethnic minorities.

The seizure of power by the Sunni Islamists of HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has recently sought to moderate its rhetoric.

Despite worries over Syria’s future, global powers including the United States and the European Union have stepped up contacts with the war-ravaged country’s new leaders, urging them to guarantee protections for women and minorities.

The foreign leaders have also stressed the importance of combating “terrorism and extremism.”

The supreme leader of Iran — a key backer of Assad’s administration before it fell to the rebels — on Sunday predicted “the emergence of a strong, honourable group” that would stand against “insecurity” in Syria.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Syria’s young men would “stand with strength and determination against those who have designed this insecurity and those who have implemented it, and God willing, he will overcome them”.

Assad had long played a strategic role in Iran’s “axis of resistance”, a loose alliance of regional proxy forces, particularly in facilitating the supply of weapons to Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

That axis has suffered heavy blows over the past year with Israel’s decimation of the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Khamenei nonetheless denied that these armed groups acted as proxies, adding that: “If one day we want to take action, we do not need a proxy force.”