Weapons that were illegally smuggled for Hezbollah and which were seized by Syrian authorities, January 26, 2025. (SANA)
Syrian state television announced that “the General Administration of Border Security seized a shipment of weapons headed to the Lebanese Hezbollah through smuggling routes on the Syrian-Lebanese border.”
On January 23, the Syrian Arab News Agency – “SANA” reported that the Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army, Major General Ali al-Naasan, met with the Director of the Office of Cooperation and Coordination in the Lebanese Army, Brigadier General Michel Boutros, to discuss the mechanism for controlling the Syrian-Lebanese border, after the fall of the former Syrian regime.
This development came after clashes between gunmen on both sides of the border.
Earlier this month, Syrian authorities said they captured a shipment of rifles, Iranian-made drones, and other weapons they said were headed to Lebanon, but at the time did not explicitly mention Hezbollah.
Active Syrian efforts to prevent weapon transfers to Hezbollah would represent a significant turnaround after years of enabling such shipments under the former Bashar al-Assad regime, though it was unclear whether the latest captures represented a broad shift in policy.
Iran long supplied Hezbollah with weapons through Syria with Assad’s blessing, but there has been some hope that this would stop under the country’s new rulers, who are not aligned with Iran’s regional aspirations.
Israel has also been concerned that weapons from the fallen regime could be sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The IDF has struck several border crossings between Syria and Lebanon to prevent arms from reaching Hezbollah.
After the fall of Assad’s regime in Syria on December 8, the country’s de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, offered reassurance that the new Syrian government would not threaten Israel or allow Iran to reestablish itself in Syria.
One Lebanese analyst commented on the seized weapons by saying , these are not for fighting Israel these are for killing Lebanese people . He was referring to May 2008 when Hezbollah pointed its guns against the Lebanese people