Syrian President Rejects Military Role in Lebanon After Trump Suggests Syria Could Act Against Hezbollah

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa denied on Sunday that his country sought to intervene militarily in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah are at war. "We are looking for economic channels between Lebanon and Syria, not military ones," Sharaa said in an interview broadcast on television channel Al Mashhad. S.

-Israeli strikes. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion. U.S. deal signed this week includes Lebanon, where fighting has paused since Saturday evening. At the G7 summit in France this week, Trump said "if Israel can't do the job (against Hezbollah) without killing everyone else, then he (Sharaa) will do the job.

Sharaa said Syria proposed with the United States that the war must stop. " "And alongside this, some security measures that respond firstly to Syrian and Lebanese concerns, and also Israeli concerns," he said. " "Syria is greatly concerned with Lebanon's domestic situation because Lebanon's security and stability are part of Syria's security and stability," he added.

U.S. broadcaster NBC that "I'd like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah... " Syria dominated Lebanon for decades following its military intervention in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and withdrew in 2005.

Hezbollah fought alongside Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war before Assad was toppled in 2024.