Hezbollah Chief Says Assad’s Fall Severed Key Supply Line From Iran

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Hezbollah Chief Says Assad’s Fall Severed Key Supply Line From Iran
الاثنين 16 ديسمبر, 2024

The loss of the route through Syria is a blow to the Lebanese militia and its most important ally, Tehran

By Carrie Keller-Lynn. WSJ.

Hezbollah lost its most important supply route from Iran through Syria, Naim Qassem said, the first time the chief of the Lebanese militia has publicly acknowledged how the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has hurt the group’s ability to rearm after a punishing Israeli campaign.

Assad's Syria was the most important state ally for Iran's alliance of regional militias and political entities across the Middle East, which includes Hezbollah. Syria also was the key geographical link allowing the flow of weapons and other materiel from Iran to Lebanon, where Hezbollah projected Iran's front against their common archenemy, Israel.

Assad's ousting at the hands of rebels imperiled Syria's ties to Tehran and raised questions over the country's future relations with Hezbollah, which battled the rebels on Assad's behalf.

"Yes, Hezbollah lost in this phase its military supply line through Syria, but this loss is merely a detail in the overall of the resistance," Qassem said in his first public comments since Assad was toppled. "The supply line might come back nor mally with the new regime, and we can always look for other ways. The resistance is flexible and can adapt."

Hezbollah is Iran's most powerful militia ally but has been badly battered by more than a year of fighting with Israel, which crescendoed before a cease-fire deal was signed in late November. Israel has extensively struck smuggling-related 3 infrastructure in Lebanon and Syria, including border crossings, smuggling convoys and weapons - production facilities, in a bid to choke off supplies.

But Assad's fall has now threatened Iran's foothold in Syria, especially after Hezbollah and Iranian military personnel fled the country as it became clear Assad would lose his grip on power.

The chaos following the rebels' stunning victory also opened a window for Israel - in more than 350 airstrikes across the country to destroy swaths of the Syrian army's strategic weapons, including Scud and cruise missiles and chemical - weapons capabilities, Israel's military has said. The strikes have lessened in pace from an initial burst after Assad fell, but continued overnight into Sun day, Israel's Army Radio said.

Israel also has pushed into the buffer zone that separated Israel and Syria after their 1973 war, saying it did so to protect its borders and citizens against potential threats from rebel groups that are vying for control and may be hostile to Israel.

"We have no interest in a conflict with Syria. We will determine Israeli policy regarding Syria according to the reality on the ground," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. He also said Israel would continue to strike "as necessary, in every arena and at all times" to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament and attacks backed by Iran.

Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which fled Syria, warned Israel against an increased presence in Syria, saying that Israel "will pay a heavy price."

Though Islamist rebel factions that led Assad's ouster have sought to project moderation, Israel is still wary of the groups' long-term intentions.

"The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared, and the latest developments in Syria are increasing the inten- sity of the threat-despite the moderate appearance rebel leaders are pretending to portray," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, pressing Israel to increase its military spending.

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