Hezbollah not concerned about cease-fire deal in Syria
The cease-fire brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan in south Syria does not seem to worry the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which is widely involved in the Syrian war, like it worries its archenemy Israel.
Despite reports that the cease-fire agreement reached on July 7 between the United States, Russia and Jordan in southwestern Syria would keep Hezbollah and Iranian forces away from border territories with Israel and Jordan, it is becoming clear that this agreement doesn’t appear to constitute a significant setback for Hezbollah.
With its deployment of several thousand fighters in Syria, Hezbollah has played a major role as an infantry force. The movement’s ground forces coordinated closely with Russian warplanes in defeating the rebels in Aleppo in December 2016.
And as this Hezbollah-Russian coordination proved effective, it is unlikely that the cease-fire agreement will lead Moscow to get tough on Hezbollah. According to media reports, a high-ranking Russian military official recently met with Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut to discuss the role Hezbollah would take in the next phase of the Syrian war.
A Hezbollah official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity to discuss his party’s stance toward the cease-fire agreement said that the movement supports “any chances for reconciliation or a cease-fire or political solution wherever possible.”
