Hezbollah chief says ‘no obstacle’ to public meeting with Syrian leadership

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Tuesday there is “no obstacle” to holding a public meeting between his group and the Syrian leadership, Anadolu reports.

“There is no obstacle to holding a public meeting between Hezbollah and the Syrian leadership at a suitable time,” Qassem said in a televised speech on the group’s Al-Mayadeen television.

Hezbollah publicly entered Syria’s civil war in 2013 in support of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. As its confrontation with Israel intensified in 2024, the group withdrew a large portion of its fighters back to Lebanon.

The subsequent lightning offensive by Syrian opposition forces and the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 effectively brought Hezbollah’s military presence in Syria to an end.

“We emphasize the importance and necessity of a fraternal, positive, and cooperative relationship between Lebanon and Syria,” Qassem said.

“A stable Syria is a pillar of support for Lebanon, just as a stable Lebanon is a pillar of support for Syria,” he added.

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In June, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that Syria would be prepared to engage with Hezbollah “if doing so benefited both nations.”

“We will sit at the same table with Hezbollah if it serves the interests of Syria and Lebanon,” he said in an interview with Al Mashhad TV in Damascus.

Qassem called on the Lebanese authorities to stop what he described as “free concessions,” engage in dialogue with the “resistance,” rebuild internal unity and prioritize national sovereignty.

“Direct negotiations (with Israel) have brought nothing but shame, humiliation, disappointment, and successive concessions to Lebanon,” he said.

The Hezbollah chief called on the Lebanese authorities to “stop making gratuitous concessions, engage in dialogue with the resistance, repair the internal situation, and prioritize sovereignty.”

Lebanon and Israel are set to hold a seventh round of direct negotiations in the Italian capital Rome on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of a US-mediated framework agreement, which provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in return for the deployment of the Lebanese army in those areas and the disarmament of armed groups, a reference to Hezbollah.

​​​​​​​Since March 2, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 4,333 people and injured 12,236 others, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

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