Hezbollah backs Syria's al-Assad as opposition forces intensify offensive | Syrian War News

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for a reduction, warning tens of thousands in Syria are at risk.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has promised that the Lebanese group will resist the Syrian government amid the progress of “terrorist groups” trying to sow chaos in the country.

“They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in the past days, and we as Hezbollah will be on the side of Syria in destroying the goals of this violence as much as we can,” Qassem said on Thursday, adding that the “Violence” was sponsored by the United States and Israel.

His comments came hours after opposition forces captured the city of Homs in central Syria, their latest victory in the violence that began eight days ago.

Qassem did not provide details on how Hezbollah would support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but said the Iran-aligned group would do its best.

Hezbollah is currently maintaining a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire with Israel, after a year of war that has wreaked havoc, especially in southern Lebanon. Many of the group's leaders have been killed in Israeli attacks, and tens of thousands of Lebanese have been driven from their homes.

'The region is already on fire'

Civilians have also borne the brunt of Syria's 13-year war, which has been raging since 2020 until opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, launched a fresh attack on their strongholds. in northwestern Syria last week.

Over the weekend, the rebels captured Aleppo, the country's second largest city, before moving south into Hama on Thursday.

More than 280,000 people have been displaced by the latest fighting, the United Nations World Food Program said in a post on X.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an end to the fighting and said the escalating conflict in Syria is the result of a “perpetual collective failure” to negotiate.

Guterres called for immediate access to aid for all civilians in need in Syria and a return to a UN-led political process to end the bloodshed.

“Tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region that is already on fire,” Guterres told reporters.

“We are seeing the painful fruits of the collective failure of the previous plans to reduce the economic downturn to end the shooting in the country or the serious political process of implementing the resolutions of the Security Council,” he said.

He called on “all those with influence to do their part for the long-suffering people” of Syria and said all sides had a responsibility to protect civilians.

While al-Assad relied heavily on the support of Russia and Iran during the most difficult years of the Syrian war, other opposition groups established ties with Turkiye.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called on al-Assad to quickly find a “political solution” to the war.

“The Syrian regime must immediately commit itself to its people in order to find a global political solution,” Erdogan said in a phone call with Guterres, according to a statement released by the presidency.

Erdogan, whose country has become home to around three million Syrian refugees since the war began in 2011, has held several talks with other leaders on the crisis in recent days.

“Turkiye has been trying to reduce tensions, protect citizens and open up the political process and will continue to do so,” Erdogan was quoted as saying in the statement.

Highlighting that the conflict has reached a “new stage”, Erdogan said, “Turkey's greatest wish is that Syria does not enter into great instability and see many non-civilian victims.”

Erdogan was an outspoken critic of al-Assad for much of the war but has recently taken a more conciliatory line.