US Secretary Rubio Calls Hezbollah an Enemy of Syria Attempting to Undermine Its Government

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Wednesday that Hezbollah is an enemy of Syria and accused the Lebanese militia of attempting to undermine the government in Damascus.

During a press conference in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, Rubio added that Syrian authorities do not favor Hezbollah and that the US has encouraged them to concentrate on internal crises.

He also urged Damascus to secure its border with Lebanon to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah.

US statements about Syria’s role in confronting Hezbollah have become more frequent recently. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump told Lebanese President Michel Aoun that Damascus could play a central role in addressing the militia issue in Lebanon.

Trump said, "Perhaps Damascus will achieve better results" in confronting Hezbollah rather than Israel, despite Syrian President Ahmad al-Shar’’s rejection of this scenario.

In an interview with Fox News last week, Trump said he was becoming close to handing the Hezbollah file over to Syria.

Earlier, during the G7 summit in France, Trump mentioned discussing Hezbollah with al-Shar’, according to Reuters. This followed a statement by Trump to reporters that Syria might perform "better" than Israel in confronting the Lebanese party.

However, the Syrian president has repeatedly denied any intention of direct military intervention in Lebanon, stating in a media interview that Trump’s remarks were "misunderstood."

This is not the first time Trump has suggested a possible Syrian role in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a proposal that is particularly sensitive in Lebanon, where Syrian military presence began in 1976 during the civil war and ended with Syrian troop withdrawal in 2005.