Syria foils Hizballah plot to attack Homs oil refinery

Hizballah and Syria have ongoing tensions since the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. Syria served as a corridor for Iranian weapons transfers to Hizballah in Lebanon under the Al-Assad regime. Those days are, of course, over.

In July, Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced that it foiled an “attempt to smuggle a large shipment of sophisticated weapons across the Syrian-Iraqi border.” According to the Long War Journal:

The ministry said that evidence gathered during the operation confirmed that the shipment was intended to transit Syrian territory to Lebanon for the benefit of the “terrorist Hezbollah militia.” The operation reportedly took place on July 7.

At the beginning of October, the Syrian government and Hizballah held secret talks in Turkey, with the goal of calming tensions between Syria and Hizballah. During these talks, Syrian officials asked Hizballah to help stop its “cross-border smuggling and dismantle its remaining sleeper cells, particularly in southern Syria,” but Hizballah “did not give a direct answer on halting arms smuggling or dismantling its Syria-based cells.” It only promised not to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs. So the Syria-Hizballah tensions were not solved.

One must remember that Iran controls the weapons pipeline through Syria, and Iran was not invited to the meeting in Turkey, which likely accounts for the failure to control Hizballah’s tensions with Syria. Now it’s escalating, given the plot to attack Homs oil refinery, which Hizballah denies, despite its history with Syria that makes the attack probable.

Between the escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Hizballah attacking Syria, Muslim-on-Muslim conflict is aggravating the broader regional unrest.

“Syria says it foiled Hezbollah plot to attack Homs oil refinery,” Reuters, November 3, 2026:

Syrian security forces have arrested members of a cell linked to Lebanese Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah accused ‌of planning to attack the Homs oil refinery in central Syria, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The country’s intelligence agency and internal security forces seized explosive devices intended for use in ⁠the attack, SANA said, citing a security forces statement. It did not say how many people had been arrested or when the alleged plot was uncovered.

Hezbollah denied the Syrian accusations in a statement, reiterating that it does not have any presence on Syrian territory and is not involved in “any activity that undermines ‌the ⁠security and stability of Syria”.

Since the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syrian authorities have accused Hezbollah of involvement in a series of alleged plots, including ⁠planned assassinations, rocket attacks and arms smuggling….