When Trump criticised Israel’s strikes on Lebanon on June 7, for not being “surgical” enough (ie killing thousands of civilians while not really impacting Hezbollah), he said he would “like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah” and said he “can recommend Syria,” claiming the Syrian leader “would love to help.” <https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5281394-trump-urges-more-%E2%80%98surgical%E2%80%99-strikes-against-hezbollah> Of course, he hadn’t asked “the Syrian leader” before expressing this fantasy. Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a speech about Syria-Lebanon relations where he stressed that historic border demarcation issues are not a priority, and on the disputed, Israeli-occupied Sharaa Farms region, said “let one of us get it back first, then we can discuss who it belongs to,” he also laughed off Trump’s suggestion: “There are still people spreading rumours about Syrian intervention into Lebanon <https://x.com/QUSAY_NOOR_/status/2065851541504847935> and similar things, and that is not true, we always call for an end to the war, for strengthening institutions, economic ties and calming the situation in Lebanon as much as we can.”
Trump, however, repeated his suggestion 10 days later, noting Israel does not “have to KNOCK DOWN an apartment house everytime you’re looking for somebody,” and suggested Syria could “do a better job of doing it.” <https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZpXoTnES_N/> On June 22, al-Sharaa gave a major interview to Lebanese state media, once again firmly rejecting the idea, but also with a number of other very interesting points about Syria's relations with Lebanon and Hezbollah: • Syria has no plans to send its army into Lebanon or disarm Hezbollah <https://x.com/QUSAY_NOOR_/status/2068861435195674797> • Syria has been against the war from the beginning and therefore will only act in ways to help bring peace, not to escalate the war • Syria has experienced the horror of war and division and does not wish this on Lebanon • We will not repeat the road taken by the former regime of intervening in and occupying Lebanon • Syria wants good relations with all components of Lebanese society equally, regardless of sect or religion. • Syria is willing to act only as a mediator between Hezbollah, other components of Lebanese society and the Lebanese government; no Lebanese consensus can be reached without the involvement of Hezbollah • Any Syrian role would be through Lebanese institutions and the Lebanese state. • The Shiite community of southern Lebanon must have a place in any future settlement and should be reassured. • He is willing to sit down and talk with Hezbollah, despite its past role in supporting Assad which has left a “huge wound” in Syria • Invites Hezbollah and Lebanese Shiite community to reflect on such past errors, so we can all move on from the past Of course, this is not new – when this idea arose a couple of months ago early in the renewed Israel-Hezbollah war, Syria categorically rejected any such role. I wrote this article below when this issue previously arose, and it is all still relevant: ……………………………………………………………………. Asked about Syria’s view of the current war against Iran at the recent Antalya Diplomacy Forum, president Ahmed al-Sharaa began that for Syria this is a somewhat complex question, because “Syria has had a negative experience with Iranian aggression over the past 14 years and its involvement in supporting the former regime in its confrontation with the Syrian people. However, despite all these past circumstances, we were not a party to any conflict against Iran during the current war <https://www.facebook.com/hackdaccount/videos/1953758201910038/?rdid=cqAnX2QiFh5daRqE> … we were pushing for this war not to break out in the first place, because Iran is a country with a population of 85 million people, and any harm that befalls Iran from within could affect the whole region. We are pushing for a stable region and for its problems to be resolved with dialogue and diplomacy.” Syria’s extremely negative experience with Iran is a simple empirical fact, but what the current government does with this fact is the issue. The feelings of many ordinary Syrians – *much more than the current government* – leave Syria open to pressure by the US to take part in some kind of action, whether against Iran or Hezbollah in Lebanon, with the reward of being granted more legitimacy, diplomatic support or funding and investment by the US. Sharaa’s clear statement here against the war, despite past experience, plus Syria’s clear condemnation of Israel’s attack on Lebanon <https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1v/k1vw6ibh3h?utm_source=chatgpt.com> despite its negative experience with Hezbollah, Sharaa’s statement in London during his recent visit that “we do not have a problem with Iran in Tehran, we had a problem with Iran in Damascus <https://www.newarab.com/news/sharaa-spells-his-vision-syria-during-landmark-uk-visit>,” but now we aim for reconstruction and economic development and “we have been patient in regard to the relationship with Iran,” whereas as soon as Assad was overthrown, “Israel dealt with Syria negatively by bombing locations, making incursions into Syrian territories, and violating the 1974 agreement,” all point to the fact that the Syrian government resolutely rejects the kind of role some US and Israeli circles might like Syria to play. This Syrian stance is only partly motivated by the fact that Syria, and Syrians, also have an extremely negative experience of Israel, widely view it as an enemy that occupies their land, and are very strongly supportive of Palestine, as the recent massive pro-Palestine protest wave <https://theirantiimperialismandours.com/2026/04/18/syrians-demonstrate-for-palestine-all-over-the-country/> demonstrated. Just as importantly, having just emerged from the 14-year Assadist apocalypse, during which, again according to Sharaa in London, “Syria suffered from the same thing that the Gazan people have suffered from <https://x.com/Levant_24_/status/2039093135750435079>,” Syria now can only focus on reconstruction, on the recovery of the Syrian people. “The Syrian people empathize with the people of Gaza and are affected by the bombing there,” said Sharaa, but Syria is too exhausted to enter into any new conflicts – hence it has refused to allow 17 months of Israeli aggression in southern Syria provoke it into a major fightback which would lead to Israel flattening Damascus; and for exactly the same reason, it refuses to be drawn into US or Zionist schemes to go to war with Hezbollah – an invitation that they know well is aimed at encouraging fratricide among Israel’s enemies to exhaust them both and leave them open to Greater Israel’s aim of establishing new borders in both countries. Full article: https://theirantiimperialismandours.com/2026/05/03/syria-rejects-intervention-in-lebanon-condemns-israels-aggression-while-embittered-tankie-imagination-runs-wild/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#42162): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/42162 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/119937730/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
