Reuters reported today, Thursday, citing six informed sources, that representatives of the Syrian government and Lebanon’s Hezbollah had held direct talks in Turkey in an attempt to ease tensions between the two sides, in the first meeting of its kind between two parties that have long been adversaries.
The sources, which include two Syrian officials, a U.S. official, and a senior Lebanese security source close to Hezbollah, explained that representatives of the Syrian government and the Iran-aligned group met secretly at least once last month.
For years, Hezbollah sent fighters to Syria to support the government of “Bashar al-Assad” during the civil war. However, tensions escalated between the two sides after “Assad” was ousted in late 2024 and a new Syrian government took power. Damascus accused Hezbollah of transporting weapons through Syrian territory, while the United States encouraged the Syrian army to send forces to Lebanon to confront the group.
The sources said that last month’s meeting included representatives of Hezbollah and officials from the Syrian intelligence service and Foreign Ministry, and was held at the invitation of Turkish security and intelligence agencies with the aim of easing tensions between the two sides.
The U.S. official, the two Syrian officials, and the Lebanese source said that the talks focused on shared security concerns and points of tension between the two sides, and that the meeting went well.
One of the Syrian officials said that the two sides agreed that there was no hostility between them, while Syria also assured Hezbollah that it would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to disarm it.
In return, Syrian officials asked Hezbollah to help halt smuggling operations across the border and dismantle its remaining sleeper cells, particularly in southern Syria.
Syria had announced on Tuesday the arrest of a Hezbollah-affiliated cell that was preparing to launch rockets in the south of the country, while the group denied on Wednesday any involvement in the matter, stressing that it has no presence on Syrian territory and does not engage in any security or military activity there.
The Syrian official said that Hezbollah representatives did not provide a direct response to the request to halt arms smuggling and dismantle its cells in Syria, but they pledged not to interfere in Syrian affairs.
The Lebanese source, who was directly informed about the meeting and its outcomes, said that both sides had “made significant progress on security issues.”
At the same time, the Syrian official and the Lebanese source clarified that no final agreement had been reached, nor was there any strategy to issue an announcement regarding the meeting.
The Lebanese source added to “Reuters” that contacts between the two sides through Turkey had begun about two months ago.
United News Network – UNN Arabic
An independent media platform that provides reliable news and objective analysis, and seeks to promote peace and cultural dialogue around the world, to convey the truth and build bridges of understanding among peoples.
For more news, visit our homepage:
Author: Counselor Faisal Al-Mutairi.
Publication Date: October 1, 2026.
Updated: October 2026.
