Syria’s new regime says it stopped weapons shipment heading to Hezbollah in Lebanon
Photos released by Syrian media show assault rifles, RPGs and ammunition, in apparent second instance this month of authorities thwarting arms transfer
Syrian authorities seized a shipment of weapons heading to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, the official SANA news agency reported on Sunday
According to SANA, the shipment was heading to Hezbollah via smuggling routes on the Lebanon-Syria border, in the area of the border city of Sarghaya.
Images showed several assault rifles, RPG launchers, and ammunition.
Earlier this month, Syrian authorities said they captured a shipment of rifles, Iranian-made drones, and other weapons they said were headed to Lebanon, but at the time did not explicitly mention Hezbollah.
Active Syrian efforts to prevent weapon transfers to Hezbollah would represent a significant turnaround after years of enabling such shipments under the former Bashar al-Assad regime, though it was unclear whether the latest captures represented a broad shift in policy.
Iran long supplied Hezbollah with weapons through Syria with Assad’s blessing, but there has been some hope that this would stop under the country’s new rulers, who are not aligned with Iran’s regional aspirations.
Israel has also been concerned that weapons from the fallen regime could be sent to the terror group in Lebanon. The IDF has struck several border crossings between Syria and Lebanon to prevent arms from reaching Hezbollah.
After the fall of Assad’s regime in Syria on December 8, the country’s de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, responded to Israeli concerns and offered reassurance that the new Syrian government would not threaten the Jewish state or allow Iran to reestablish itself in Syria.

Sharaa has also asserted that Israel had a right to target Iranian-backed forces, who supported Assad and backed Hezbollah, prior to the former Syrian leader’s fall, but he said that Israel has no legitimate basis to keep operating in Syria since the regime change.
Immediately after Assad’s fall, Israeli forces moved into a buffer zone along the border, but said this was a temporary measure until the intentions of the new regime could be verified.
He has repeatedly assured Israel and Western powers that Syria was exhausted by years of civil war and that at this stage it would not be dragged into conflicts that may lead to further destruction, but would rather focus on reconstruction and stability.
In late December, Sharaa also announced the dissolution of armed factions and said that Syria’s new leadership would not allow any weapons in the country that are not under state control.
Israel has also signaled its desire to have “correct ties” with the new regime, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in early December, but “if this regime allows Iran to reestablish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.”
Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations and have formally been in a state of war since Israel declared independence in 1948.
While the fall of the Assad regime, which stood for over five decades, could provide a historic opportunity for recognition between Israel and its neighbor, the Jewish state maintains concern that the new leadership in Syria could lead to further chaos and serve as a breeding ground for a resurgence of terror in the region.