Hezbollah reducing presence in Syria, relocating fighters to Lebanon amid Israeli assault

By Esref Musa, Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu and Yılmaz Ozturk

RAQQA, Syria (AA) - Following Israeli attacks on various areas in Lebanon, Hezbollah has begun reducing its presence in Syria by bringing some of its fighters, who had been supporting the Syrian regime, back to Lebanon.

Local Syrian sources told Anadolu on Friday that Hezbollah is moving hundreds of its members from different parts of Syria to Lebanon.

Hezbollah has sent hundreds of fighters from areas like Mayadin and Al-Bukamal in Deir el-Zour province in eastern Syria, as well as from parts of Damascus, Hama, and Homs provinces, back to Lebanon, the sources explained.

They added that Hezbollah is using alternate routes to enter Lebanon after Israel targeted the Al-Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon.

On another note, the sources indicated that Iraq's Shia Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) began entering Syria from Iraq about a week ago.

The PMF members are reportedly taking positions vacated by Hezbollah in Syria, with some crossing into Lebanon using the same routes Hezbollah utilizes.

Israel since Sept. 23 has dramatically escalated its massive bombing campaign across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, killing at least 1,437 people, injuring over 4,123 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writig by Mohammad Sio