Hezbollah lost its most important supply route from Iran through Syria with the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, the group’s head admitted on Sunday.
It was the first public acknowledgment of how the turmoil in Syria had hurt the Iranian proxy, which had propped up Assad and is now fighting a war in Lebanon with Israel. Weapons to counter the Israeli campaign flowed from Iran through Syria and into Lebanon to Hezbollah.
“Yes, Hezbollah lost in this phase its military supply line through Syria, but this loss is simply a detail in the overall resistance,” Naim Qassem said in a televised speech.
“The supply line could return to normal with the new regime, and we can always look for other ways, the resistance is flexible and can adapt,” he added.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the group lost its supply route through Syria. (Al Manar TV/Reuters)
Assad’s overthrow endangered Syria’s close ties with Iran. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that led Assad’s overthrow, lamented that Syria had become a “playground for Iran.” Hezbollah had fought rebel groups on Assad’s behalf.
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When it became clear that Assad’s power was unraveling, Hezbollah and Iran’s military forces left Syria.
Qassem took over as secretary general of Hezbollah in October after its leader of three decades, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in Israeli airstrikes south of Beirut. Hezbollah and Iran had long intervened on Assad’s behalf in Syria’s 13-year civil war, but exhausted by the war with Israel, they refused to come to his defense during the swift seizure of Damascus.
Israel has also used the chaos of Assad’s fall to destroy the Syrian army’s chemical and strategic weapons in more than 350 airstrikes across the country. And it has moved into the buffer zone separating it from Syria: the first time the Golan buffer zone has received Israeli forces since 1973.
People wave guns in the air as they gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime in Umayyad Square on December 8 in Damascus. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
People collect metal and unexploded ordnance from the site of the previous night’s Israeli airstrike that targeted weapons shipments belonging to Syrian government forces on December 10, 2024. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is not interested in meddling in Syria’s internal politics but instead seeks to protect Israel’s borders. “We have no interest in a conflict with Syria. We will determine Israeli policy towards Syria in accordance with the reality on the ground,” he said on Sunday, adding that Israel would continue to attack “as necessary, in all areas and in all areas.” moment” to prevent the reconstruction of Hezbollah.
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HTS, a former al Qaeda affiliate, has tried to present itself as a moderating force in Syria, and the United States has been in direct contact with the main rebel group. But Israel is wary of the group’s long-term intentions.
“The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared, and the latest developments in Syria are increasing the intensity of the threat, despite the moderate appearance that the rebel leaders intend to show,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday. .
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Hezbollah intensified its cross-border attacks against Israel after October 7, 2023, in support of Hamas, another Iranian proxy. Since late November, the ceasefire has largely held, despite some Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah operatives.
Qassem defended his decision to stick to the ceasefire, saying it did not mean the end of Hezbollah’s “resistance” but rather that it was necessary to “stop Israel’s aggression” in Lebanon.
