Report: Hezbollah refuses to comply with Russian demand to leave Syria

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Hezbollah will not withdraw from western and southwestern borders of Homs with Lebanon as the Russians demanded.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, YASSER OKBI/MAARIV
Updated: JUNE 14, 2018 18:57
A Hezbollah member carries his weapon on top of a building on May 25, 2016. (photo credit: HASSAN ABDALLAH / REUTERS)
A Hezbollah member carries his weapon on top of a building on May 25, 2016.
(photo credit: HASSAN ABDALLAH / REUTERS)
Hezbollah fighters are still stationed in western and southwestern Homs in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday, and are refusing to comply with a Russian demand to pull away from the Israeli border.
"All that has happened is a media withdrawal," the non-government affiliated organization reported, claiming the Russian forces are deployed in a way that ensures they will not need to come in any contact with Hezbollah fighters.
In a speech delivered in early June, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed that "the whole world can not remove us from Syria."
Lebanese news site Lebanon Debate claimed Russia allegedly stationed Military Police forces on the Syrian-Lebanese border last week near Homs without informing Hezbollah, and that the deployment lead to increased tensions between Russia and Hezbollah for a 24 hour period.
The report further claimed the Russian move was made in coordination with the Syrian army.