Hochstein says Syria developments create new weakness for Hezbollah

DOHA, Qatar — US envoy Amos Hochstein says the situation in Syria, where rebels are pressing a rapid advance that is threatening President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power, was creating a new weakness for the Hezbollah terror group and Iran.

The US envoy, who negotiated a US-brokered ceasefire agreement in the Hezbollah-initiated conflict with Israel that went into effect on November 27, says he believes the terror group was not yet eliminated but it was rather weakened.

Hochstein, speaking during a political conference in Doha, says the situation in Syria would mean it was going to be harder for Iran to supply Hezbollah with weapons there, adding that Iran appeared to be withdrawing its support from Syria, without clarifying how.

Hochstein adds that Hezbollah “may not be strong enough to fight Israel or to support Assad but it doesn’t take a lot of strength to be a dominant presence in Lebanon so you can also be weakened and still strong at the same time when it comes to the Lebanese context.”

The Syrian army’s defeats in the past week were “not that big of a surprise,” Hochstein says, highlighting the army’s limited power in comparison with events during the country’s civil war 13 years ago when “it had two powers [Iran and Russia] coming to its aid in a very strong way.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.