From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Syrian government officials and Hezbollah held secret talks in Turkey, sources tell Reuters
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Representatives of the Syrian government and the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah have held face-to-face talks in Turkey to try to calm tensions between them, six sources briefed on the first known meeting between the longtime foes tell Reuters.
The Syrian officials and Hezbollah met secretly at least once last month, say the sources — who include two Syrian officials, a US official and a senior Lebanese security source close to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah for years dispatched fighters to Syria to defend former President Bashar al-Assad’s government in the country’s civil war.
After Assad was ousted in late 2024 in a lightning rebel offensive, tensions rose between Syria’s new government and Hezbollah, with Damascus accusing the group of transferring arms through Syria, and the United States encouraging Syria’s military to send forces into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah.
The six sources say Hezbollah representatives and Syrian intelligence and foreign ministry officials took part in the meeting last month at the invitation of Turkish security and intelligence agencies in an effort to de-escalate.
All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the meeting.
Syria’s foreign ministry, Turkey’s foreign and defense ministries and the US State Department do not immediately respond to Reuters’ questions about the meeting. Hezbollah’s media office declines to comment.
After publication, the Syrian government’s English-language account on X denies such a meeting took place, saying, “these claims are false.”
The meeting focused on resolving points of tension between the two parties and went well, according to the US official, the Syrian officials and the Lebanese source.
One of the Syrian officials said both sides agreed they held no hostility towards one another, and that Syria assured Hezbollah that it would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to disarm the group.
In turn, Syrian officials asked Hezbollah to help stop cross-border smuggling attempts and dismantle its remaining sleeper cells, particularly in southern Syria, the official says.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.