Syria’s Internal Security Forces, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Service, announced on Wednesday that they foiled a plot they described as “subversive” in the Yarmouk Basin area of Daraa governorate in southern Syria, leading to the arrest of a “cell affiliated with Hezbollah”.
According to an Internal Security statement, the operation followed close and intensive security monitoring of the cell’s attempt to “prepare and install rocket launchers in order to carry out attacks in an effort to destabilize security and stability”.
Syrian security authorities announced the “complete dismantling of the launchers and the confiscation of the equipment they contained”, while investigations continue with the detainees ahead of their referral to the competent judiciary.
For its part, Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office denied “any relationship or connection” between the party and the “alleged cell”, affirming that the party has no presence on Syrian territory.
In a brief statement, it stressed the party’s constant concern for “Syria’s security, stability and the safety of its people”. It also called on “official Syrian authorities to beware of attempts aimed at dragging Hezbollah’s name in to stir up tension and sow discord between Lebanon and Syria”. The statement said that “the real beneficiary of inflaming tension between Lebanon and Syria is the Israeli enemy”.
A Very Sensitive Area
The operation is particularly significant because it took place in the Yarmouk Basin in western Daraa countryside. Since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, the area has seen repeated Israeli incursions and attacks and continuous military movements along the nearby border strip. This makes any attempt to launch rockets a potential pretext for escalation and a further complication for the situation on the ground in southern Syria.
Syria continues to demand that the Israeli occupation leave its territory, affirming that all measures Israel takes are null and void and have no legal effect under international law. It also calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities and compel Israel to withdraw fully from southern Syria.
Not the First Time
The Daraa operation is part of a series of similar security pursuits by Syrian security agencies against networks and cells that they say are linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The most prominent came last May, when the Interior Ministry announced a series of simultaneous security operations covering Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Tartous and Latakia. They resulted in the “dismantling of an organized Hezbollah cell whose members infiltrated Syrian territory after receiving intensive specialized training in Lebanon”.
Hezbollah at the time denied what it called the “false accusations issued by the Syrian Interior Ministry”, saying that “the repetition of these claims, despite our repeated announcements that Hezbollah has no presence on Syrian territory, raises big question marks, and confirms that someone is seeking to light the fuse of tension and discord between the Syrian and Lebanese peoples”.
This was followed in July by an announcement that an attempt to smuggle a shipment of advanced weapons across the Syrian-Iraqi border had been foiled. The Syrian Interior Ministry said at the time it was on its way to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which the party also denied.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
