Lebanon’s Hezbollah denied on Thursday, September 11, the Syrian Interior Ministry’s announcement that individuals arrested in western Rural Damascus belonged to the group.

In a statement, Hezbollah’s media relations department rejected “categorically and in detail” the Interior Ministry’s accusations, stressing, “Hezbollah has no presence and does not carry out any activity on Syrian territory.”
“The statement added that the group is ‘firmly committed to Syria’s stability and the security of its people.”

Earlier that day, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced the arrest of a cell allegedly affiliated with Hezbollah, which was accused of planning operations inside Syria. According to the ministry, the cell possessed weapons, including Grad rockets.

Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of Internal Security Forces in Rural Damascus, said specialized units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Directorate, detained the “terrorist cell linked to Hezbollah militia” after “close monitoring and intensive fieldwork.”

Preliminary investigations, al-Dalati said, indicated that the cell members had received training in camps inside Lebanon and were planning operations “to undermine Syria’s security and stability.”

According to the Interior Ministry, the raid led to the seizure of rocket launch platforms, 19 Grad rockets, anti-armor missiles, as well as small arms and large quantities of ammunition.

Arrest of a Hezbollah-affiliated cell in Rural Damascus with Grad rockets – September 11, 2025 (Syrian Interior Ministry)

This is not the first time Hezbollah has denied involvement in Syria since the fall of its main ally, the Assad regime, on December 8, 2024.

During the coastal clashes last March, Hezbollah denied accusations of orchestrating the violence in Syria’s coastal region and of backing remnants of the former regime in attacks against Syrian government security forces.

The group accused some parties of deliberately dragging Hezbollah’s name into Syrian events and “portraying it as a side in the ongoing conflict,” warning against misinformation campaigns serving “political goals and suspicious foreign agendas.”

At that time, Arab media outlets had reported alleged roles for Hezbollah, Iran, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in operations carried out by remnants of the former regime in the coastal region.

Those events resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in addition to members of the Internal Security Forces. The violence included mass executions of entire families, along with incidents of torture and abductions.

Campaign against Hezbollah in Homs and the Damascus countryside

Hezbollah was previously active in border areas near Lebanon, such as al-Qusayr (Rural Homs) and Rural Damascus, and held influence in parts of Sayyida Zainab. The group fought alongside the former regime during the Syrian uprising, taking part in human rights violations, including the siege and shelling of civilians in Zabadani and Madaya between 2015 and 2017.

In July, Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate arrested a man in Homs in possession of several ready-to-use explosive devices. According to the Interior Ministry, the suspect belonged to a Hezbollah-linked cell and had received the devices through illegal smuggling routes.

Last March, the ministry also launched a security campaign in Sayyida Zainab (Rural Damascus) targeting Hezbollah-affiliated cells accused of plotting “criminal operations” in the area. The campaign led to the arrest of several members.

Syrian Interior Ministry announces arrest of Hezbollah cell near Damascus