US wants intervention, but Syria signals diplomacy after FM’s Lebanon trip
Key takeaways
- Syrian Foreign Minister al-Shaibani met Hezbollah ally Berri during visit, as Trump calls for Syria to disarm group.
- “A meeting with Berri signals a reversal from al-Shaibani’s visit last October, when he stayed away from the Shia leadership,” Nawar Hawach, the International Crisis Group’s senior Syria analyst, told Al Jazeera.
- If Trump had his way, Syria would be embarking on yet another chapter of its troubled relationship with its smaller neighbour, Lebanon.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Syrian Foreign Minister al-Shaibani met Hezbollah ally Berri during visit, as Trump calls for Syria to disarm group.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, left, meets Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the speaker's residence in Beirut on July 2, 2026 [Joseph Eid/AFP]By Justin Salhani Published On 2 Jul 20262 Jul 2026Syria and Lebanon have long had a complicated relationship, with forces from each country intervening in the other over the years.
United States President Donald Trump has made clear that he would like yet another intervention – making repeated comments in recent weeks calling for Syria to take the lead in disarming the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah.