A destroyed building, once part of an Iranian base in Jabal Azan, in Syria’s Aleppo province, on March 2, 2025. On the wall, the following slogan can be read: "Hezbollah is victorious." (Credit: Lucile Wassermann/L'Orient-Le Jour)
The “Syrian solution” suddenly appears far more attractive. On Tuesday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that his party was ready for a “public meeting” with the Syrian authorities, more than a year and a half after the fall of its former ally Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Ahmad al-Sharaa to power.The position is surprising, not only because Syria now views Iran and its regional allies as a threat, but also because Sharaa was long portrayed as a “danger” to Shiites in Lebanon and across the region, and even as a “pawn” in Israel’s hands.Yet as Lebanon and Israel negotiate under U.S. auspices a plan for an Israeli withdrawal from the south in exchange for the group’s disarmament, Hezbollah finds itself cornered and is seeking regional cover to avoid what it sees as a Pax Israeliana. So much so that turning to Damascus, and...
The “Syrian solution” suddenly appears far more attractive. On Tuesday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that his party was ready for a “public meeting” with the Syrian authorities, more than a year and a half after the fall of its former ally Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Ahmad al-Sharaa to power.The position is surprising, not only because Syria now views Iran and its regional allies as a threat, but also because Sharaa was long portrayed as a “danger” to Shiites in Lebanon and across the region, and even as a “pawn” in Israel’s hands.Yet as Lebanon and Israel negotiate under U.S. auspices a plan for an Israeli withdrawal from the south in exchange for the group’s disarmament, Hezbollah finds itself cornered and is seeking regional cover to avoid what it sees as a Pax Israeliana. So much so that...
