Syria sends thousands of troops to Lebanon border fearing Hezbollah move

(Patria) - Syria has reinforced its border with Lebanon with missile units and thousands of soldiers, eight Syrian and Lebanese sources said on Tuesday, as the conflict spreads in the region, including the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Reuters reported.

The sources include five Syrian military officers, a Syrian security official, and two Lebanese security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Syrian officers said the Syrian army's reinforcement operation began in February but has accelerated in recent days.

Syrian officers, including a senior military official, said the move's aim was to prevent the smuggling of weapons and drugs, as well as to block the infiltration of Lebanese Hezbollah or other Iran-backed militants into Syria.

A Syrian officer told Reuters that military formations from several Syrian army divisions, including the 52nd and 84th divisions, had expanded their presence along the border in western Homs and south of Tartus.

The reinforcements include infantry units, armored vehicles, and Grad and Katyusha short-range rocket launchers, the official said.

A Syrian security official said Damascus has no plans for military action against any neighboring country.

"But Syria is prepared to face any security threat to itself or its partners," he said.

Nevertheless, the move has raised concerns among some European and Lebanese officials about a possible incursion.

Syrian military officers denied such plans, saying Syria wants balanced relations with its neighbor after decades of strained ties linked to Syria's excessive influence in Lebanon and its support for Hezbollah for the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a fourteen-year war.

Syria had troops stationed in Lebanon from 1976 to 2005, including during the Lebanese Civil War which ended in 1990.

Hezbollah continued its fire towards Israel on Monday, more than a year after agreeing to a ceasefire in a months-long war in 2024. Since that ceasefire, Israel has continued almost daily attacks.

Israel ordered the evacuation of much of southern Lebanon this week, displacing tens of thousands of people. Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and southern Beirut have killed dozens of people and forced thousands to flee towards Syria.

A senior Lebanese security official said Syrian authorities told Beirut that the Syrian deployment of rocket launchers along the mountains forming Lebanon's eastern border with Syria was a "defensive measure against any action or attack that Hezbollah might launch against Syria."