From the Liveblog of
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Lebanese PM Salam, Syria’s al-Sharaa discuss need for tighter Lebanon-Syria border
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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Damascus today on a visit tackling issues including security, transport and energy.
A statement from the Syrian presidency says the leaders discussed “developing economic and trade cooperation… and bolstering security coordination in order to support stability and confront challenges,” as well as regional and international developments.
Syrian state news agency SANA says the visit aimed to “develop joint cooperation… particularly the economy, transportation and energy” sectors.
The discussions also addressed “the need for stricter Syria-Lebanon border controls and preventing all types of smuggling,” Salam adds.
Lebanon and Syria share a porous, 330-kilometre (205-mile) border notorious for the smuggling of people, weapons and goods, especially by Hezbollah.
Syria’s new authorities are hostile to the Lebanese terror group and its sponsor Iran, and have announced the arrest of alleged Hezbollah-affiliated cells in recent months, while the group has denied having any presence in Syria.
Salam says that “we will not allow Lebanon to be used as a platform to harm any of its Arab brothers, including Syria.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.