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By Tom O'Connor
Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy
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The Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which played a crucial role in defending the Syrian government throughout the neighboring country's civil war, has told Newsweek that the redeployment of its fighters would not be necessary in the face of a new large-scale rebel offensive.
"The Syrian Army does not need fighters," a Hezbollah spokesperson told Newsweek on Monday. "It can defend its land."
The remarks came as the Syrian military attempted to organize a counterattack against rapid gains by insurgents who seized much of the second-largest city of Aleppo in a surprise campaign first launched on Wednesday. After returning from a trip to Moscow on Saturday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had vowed to reclaim lost territory with the help of allies, including Russia and Iran, which have pledged their support.
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"The terrorist escalation that is taking place reflects far-reaching goals in an attempt to divide the region, fragment its countries, and redraw the maps anew according to the interests and goals of America and the West," Assad was quoted as saying Monday in a readout of his call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. "This escalation will only increase Syria's determination to confront and eliminate terrorism in all Syrian territories."
Hezbollah is widely considered the most powerful faction of the Iran-aligned Axis of Resistance coalition. The group mobilized in support of the Syrian military as it fought with opposition forces who first took up arms in 2011, sparking an ongoing civil war.
However, since last October, after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its sudden offensive against Israel, Hezbollah has been engaged in a protracted battle with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which has slain much of the Lebanese group's top leadership in an intensive air campaign and launched a cross-border ground offensive in September.
Hezbollah and Israel reached a 60-day ceasefire deal last Tuesday, with both sides claiming victory.
The United States, which supports Israel and a Kurdish-led faction in Syria known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has not publicly weighed decisively in favor of either side of the clashes between pro-government and anti-government forces in Syria.
"We are closely monitoring developments in Syria and urge de-escalation by all parties and the protection of civilians and infrastructure to prevent further displacement and disruption of humanitarian access," the U.S. State Department said in a joint statement with the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Sunday.
"The current escalation only underscores the urgent need for a Syrian-led political solution to the conflict, in line with UNSCR [United Nations Security Council resolution] 2254."
Newsweek reached out to the Iranian and Syrian Permanent Missions to the United Nations and the SDF for comment.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken "discussed the need for de-escalation and the protection of civilian lives and infrastructure in Aleppo and elsewhere" alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, according to a readout shared with Newsweek by the State Department.
A U.S. defense official also told Newsweek that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) "is not involved in the ongoing situation in Northern Syria" but remained ready to respond if necessary.
"CENTCOM always retains the inherent right to self-defense wherever and whenever attacked," the U.S. defense official said. "The protection of our service members anywhere is paramount, and we will not hesitate to take appropriate action to defend them or to respond at a time and place of our choosing."
With Hezbollah still reeling from its battle with Israel, other Axis of Resistance factions, such as Iraq's Nujaba Movement, have pledged their support to Assad.
In exclusive comments shared with Newsweek on Saturday, Nujaba Movement spokesperson Hussein al-Musawi asserted that the group's position "was and still is unified in the unity of the arenas and the Axis of Resistance in standing against any attack that could be directed at the region."
Musawi argued that the insurgent offensive offered a direct boost to the interests of Israel and the United States, who also claim stakes in Syria's ongoing civil war.
"We were and still are fully aware that the Zionist and American plan and those with them will always seek to destabilize the region under various flimsy pretexts and excuses," Musawi said at the time.
"We also realize that the movement of the armed terrorist groups, which are a creation of America and according to the White House's own confessions, are moving according to American will and wanted to open this front to relieve pressure on Israel and distract the international community with more tensions and cover up the failure and great loss suffered by Israel and those with it and distract the Axis of Resistance by opening new fronts," he added.
Musawi then stated that "we will not allow these groups to appear again and threaten the security and stability of Iraq" and that "we will be the best supporter and helper of the brotherly Syrian people against these criminal gangs that want to tamper with the security and stability of the peoples."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitor led by exiled Syrian opposition activists, then reported Monday that up to 200 Iraqi militiamen had crossed the border from Iraq into Syria.
The Nujaba Movement participates in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq coalition that has fired drones and missiles against Israel on behalf of the Axis of Resistance since the onset of the war between Israel and Hamas. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has targeted U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria as well, demanding their immediate departure from the country.
Reached for comment regarding its position on the deployment of Iran-backed factions in Syria, the IDF referred Newsweek to the words of spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari during an interview with Sky News Arabia on Monday.
"Hezbollah has been defeated in the campaign, and we must ensure that it does not receive weapons from Iran via Syria," Hagari said. "What is happening in Syria concerns Syria, not Israel. We must ensure that no threats are posed to us—we are a sovereign state, and we will make certain that Iranian weapons are not smuggled to Hezbollah. If attempts are made, we will respond accordingly."
In a statement issued that same day, the IDF accused Hezbollah of violating their ceasefire agreement over the past two days through "several acts" that "posed a threat to Israeli civilians."
The Israeli military said it then conducted several strikes against a "missile manufacturing site" in Lebanon's eastern Beqaa Valley and "infrastructure sites used to smuggle weapons adjacent to the Syria-Lebanon border" near Hermel.
Hezbollah also claimed an attack against northern Israel on Monday in response to what the group said were repeated Israeli violations of their ceasefire deal, "including firing on civilians and airstrikes in various parts of Lebanon, which led to the martyrdom of citizens and the injury of others, in addition to the continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft, reaching the capital Beirut."
Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian aircraft have continued to conduct strikes in support of Syrian troops as they fight to repel the insurgent advances in the largest operation of its kind in years.
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Before the ongoing war in which Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah and Iraq-based militias came to Assad's aid as he fought with various rebel groups, including jihadi factions such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as the Al-Qaeda-tied Nusra Front, and the Islamic State (ISIS). The IDF has regularly conducted airstrikes against suspected Iran-linked positions in Syria.
HTS and other opposition groups, including the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army, have led the charge in the current anti-government offensive, which is being called "Deterrence of Aggression."
Hezbollah, HTS and ISIS have all been designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has also maintained a 13-year policy of calling for Assad's departure from power due to allegations of war crimes.
Turkey, a member of the U.S.-led NATO military coalition, views both ISIS and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as its primary foes in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called out the U.S. for its support of the SDF, which Ankara considers an offshoot of the PKK, which Washington also views as a terrorist organization.
Roughly 1,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, both in northeastern SDF-held territory and a southwestern desert garrison manned by rebel groups. The SDF, which also has personnel deployed to majority-Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, has engaged in clashes with rebels as it attempted to open a humanitarian corridor to link its held territories ultimately severed by what SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said were "armed groups supported by the Turkish occupation."
The SDF and the Syrian military have occasionally fought alongside and against one another throughout the country's civil war. Both view HTS, ISIS and other rebel groups as a major threat to their respective interests.
"We are working to communicate with all actors in Syria to secure the protection of our people and to safely evacuate them from the Tal Rifaat and al-Shahba areas towards our safe areas in the northeast of the country," Shami said in a statement late Monday, "while our forces continue to resist to protect our people in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo."
In a statement issued Monday, the HTS-led Syrian Salvation Government sought to reassure Kurds in Aleppo that their livelihoods would be safeguarded under a new rebel administration.
"We will not allow anyone to disrupt or attempt to undermine the brotherhood and cooperation between all parts of Syrian society," the Syrian Salvation Government said. "We stand with the Kurds as we stand with all segments of the Syrian and people and society in building the future Syria in which justice and dignity prevail for all."
"In conclusion," the statement added, "we call on them and guarantee their security in their original areas in the city of Aleppo, which will be stronger with diversity."
Update 12/2/2024 1:31 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comments shared with Newsweek by a U.S. defense official and the U.S. State Department.
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