Hezbollah’s leader admitted on Saturday that the toppling of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has cut off an important land route from Iran, dealing another blow to the militant group and its patron, Iran.
The Syrian government had previously provided a supply route for Iran to send weapons and materiel to Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, following Assad’s ousting, this route is now lost.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said that losing the Syria route is a “small detail” but may change with time. He hinted at exploring alternative means of getting supplies or re-establishing the route under a new regime.
This loss is another setback for Hezbollah after its recent conflict with Israel and months of all-out warfare. In September, Hezbollah’s wireless devices were detonated, air raids intensified, and ground invasions occurred, killing many commanders.
Qassem took over as secretary general in October after Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination in Israeli airstrikes. The cease-fire has held despite periodic exchanges of fire, but Hezbollah is severely weakened: its arsenal was largely destroyed, according to Israeli officials.
The loss of Syria also hurts Iran, which had relied on Assad and used the country as a hub for networking and supplying proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Hezbollah leader Qassem expressed hope for cooperation between Lebanon and Syria under whoever takes over. He defended the cease-fire, saying it was necessary to stop Israel’s aggression in southern Lebanon but did not mean the end of resistance.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/14/world/middleeast/hezbollah-supply-route-syria.html