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HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, also called “Abu Mohammad Al-Joulani,” stated in a December 22, 2024 meeting with a Druze delegation that “Syria will not interfere negatively in Lebanon.”

“Absolutely not,” he stressed, as reported by MEMRI. “Syria respects Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independent decision-making, security, and stability. We will try, using friendly and loving advice, [to help] deliver Lebanon from its sectarian division, and reach the distribution of positions according to qualifications.”

“We will do it with friendly and loving advice. I reiterate this so that nobody thinks that we are trying to interfere in Lebanon.”

“Our priority in the near future is to provide security and services to the people, built the army, collect the weapons that are not controlled by the state, and to prevent any plans to divide Syria,” he also said.

“We will try to use international pressure against the recent Israeli incursion into Syria,” he added. “We adhered to the 1974 agreement and the buffer zone. We are ready for UN forces to move in, to secure the area, and to drop any pretext for anyone to occupy Syrian lands.”