The border barrier between Israel and Syria, on the Golan Heights. (Credit: Mehanem Kahana/AFP)
BEIRUT — Israeli Channel 12 reported officials “concerned” over comments from Donald Trump — already denied by Damascus — about his desire for Syria to “take care of” Hezbollah, ahead of a security meeting on Lebanon and Syria.
Donald Trump told Fox News he was “disappointed that Israel has not managed to defeat Hezbollah,” adding, “I am about to hand this over to Syria.” At the G7 in France, he said that “if Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone, he [Ahmad al-Sharaa] will do it.”
This possibility was dismissed by the Syrian president, who said in an interview last weekend on al-Mashhad he wants “economic channels between Lebanon and Syria, not military channels.”
Sharaa’s denial has not eased tensions in Tel Aviv, with Israel reportedly “concerned” by the idea raised by Trump.
A source cited by Channel 12 warned that a Syrian intervention against Hezbollah would be “like throwing a match into a barrel of explosives,” risking a scenario in which Israel faces “al-Qaida and Erdogan” on its northern border — referring to Sharaa’s jihadist past and the Turkish president’s backing of Syrian authorities.
This would be the “worst-case scenario,” according to the Israeli channel, as both Sharaa and Erdogan are seen as close to Trump.
Israeli sources quoted by the media said the “only way” to avoid a Syrian intervention is “to speed up negotiations” with Lebanon, as talks continue in Washington on maintaining the cease-fire and managing Israel’s withdrawal from the South. Channel 12 also reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will chair a security meeting Thursday on ties between Beirut and Damascus.
In this context, President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday welcomed Sharaa’s stance, saying it had “put an end to talk of a Syrian military role in Lebanon” and that “cooperation is ongoing” between the two countries.
In a Sunday interview, the Syrian leader said Damascus had “proposed to the United States to end the war,” calling for “economic, political and social” solutions, including restoring ties and a “vital economic axis” with Lebanon. He added that security measures must address the concerns of Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Hezbollah fought alongside former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during the civil war, and Sharaa, who ousted him in 2024, is strongly opposed to the group.
