Overview
- Syrian intelligence and foreign ministry officials met Hezbollah representatives in Turkey in a secret, face-to-face session arranged by Turkish security agencies.
- Both sides signaled they held no hostility and Syria gave assurances it would not carry out a military intervention in Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.
- Damascus pressed Hezbollah to stop cross-border arms smuggling and to dismantle alleged sleeper cells in southern Syria, but Hezbollah did not give a direct commitment on those demands.
- No final agreement was reached and no public announcement was planned; Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer, was not a direct participant and was reported to be unhappy about being excluded.
- Syria separately said it arrested an alleged Hezbollah cell in southern Syria and Hezbollah denied any presence there, a contested claim that underlines remaining mistrust and fragile security on the Lebanon–Syria front.