Syrian authorities announced Thursday the arrest of an alleged Hezbollah cell in Damascus, marking the latest in a string of operations targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese group inside Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime late last year. The security operation, which included raids in the towns of Sasa and Kanaker in western Damascus province, reportedly uncovered significant weapons stockpiles and plans for attacks against Syrian targets.
According to Al-Monitor, Damascus' Internal Security Commander Ahmed al-Dalati stated that the cell members had received training in Lebanon before infiltrating Syria to destabilize the country through planned assaults. Photos released by the Interior Ministry showed five detainees, alongside confiscated military-grade weapons, including missile launchers, 19 Grad rockets, anti-tank systems, and large volumes of ammunition. The Ministry said the suspects have been referred for extensive interrogation over terrorism-related charges. Neither Hezbollah nor Lebanese officials have publicly addressed the arrests.
For Syria's new leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the dismantling of Hezbollah networks has become a cornerstone of post-Assad strategy. After Assad fell to rebel forces in December 2024, Hezbollah's traditional role as a dominant regional player has increasingly been called into question. Damascus is now keen to project stability while cutting ties with groups once considered indispensable allies. The government has employed wide-ranging measures—ranging from raids on weapons cells to narcotics crackdowns—to dismantle the remnants of Hezbollah's sprawling infrastructure across Syrian territory.
Thursday's arrests follow several earlier operations. In March, a Hezbollah-linked network in Sayyida Zainab, a district south of Damascus, was seized along with weapons caches. In February, alleged smugglers tied to Hezbollah were detained in al-Qutayfah, north of the capital, over arms trafficking operations. Officials say these patterns illustrate the group's ongoing attempt to maintain influence in Syria—even as its battlefield strength and political leverage have waned following last year's costly conflict with Israel.
The crackdown also coincides with tense dynamics along the Lebanese–Syrian border. Authorities in Damascus have escalated raids on Captagon factories and drug smuggling routes, activities long tied to organized networks operating across both sides of the frontier. Several violent clashes ensued this year between Syrian security forces and Lebanese clan members tied to trafficking rings. After battles in March left ten dead, Syrian and Lebanese officials agreed to strengthen border security cooperation.
Analysts note that Hezbollah's presence in Syria dates back to 2013, when the group intervened militarily to prop up Assad against advancing rebels. What started as limited support in towns like Qusayr escalated into a widespread deployment, with as many as 8,000 Hezbollah fighters stationed on Syrian soil at the conflict's peak. The group also relied heavily on Syrian territory to ferry Iranian weapons and funds into Lebanon. However, when Assad's defenses crumbled last December, reports indicated Hezbollah fighters made a hasty withdrawal, leaving its longstanding corridors vulnerable to shutdown.
Sharaa's government has framed its campaign not as revenge, but as a forward-looking effort to stabilize Syria's fractured state. During a recent meeting with Arab media officials, the president declared that Damascus had "moved past the wounds" inflicted by Hezbollah and preferred to focus on building "state-to-state" relations with Lebanon. Current negotiations between Syrian and Lebanese committees—covering detainees, border security, and missing persons—appear to reflect this shift toward institutional diplomacy rather than militia-driven influence.