Al-Sharaa announces support for Aoun to disarm Hezbollah

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday declared his support for his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun in the latter's effort to disarm Hezbollah, state media reported.

The Middle East war expanded to Lebanon on March 2, after Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting Israeli retaliation.

Since March 2, Israel has been conducting large-scale air raids on Lebanon and incursions with ground troops, killing at least 486 people according to the Lebanese health ministry.

"We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah," Sharaa said during a video conference with top European officials.

The Syrian army has bolstered its troop deployments on the country's borders with Lebanon and Iraq, a Syrian government source told AFP on Wednesday.

"We have reinforced our defensive forces along the border as a precaution to prevent the repercussions of the conflict from spilling over onto Syrian territory, and to combat cross-border organizations and prevent them from using Syrian soil," Sharaa said.

On Monday, Aoun accused Hezbollah of seeking the "collapse" of the Lebanese state with its decision to launch rockets towards Israel.

Iran-backed Hezbollah was a prominent ally of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, sending forces to help him in the civil war.

His brutal rule was brought to an end in December 2024 and he was replaced by new Islamist authorities hostile to Hezbollah.