UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls for de-escalation, warns tens of thousands in Syria are at risk.

Hezbollah’s secretary-general Naim Qassem has pledged the Lebanese group will stand by the Syrian government amid an advance by “terrorist groups” trying to sow chaos in the country.

“They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria’s side in thwarting the goals of this aggression as much as we can,” Qassem said on Thursday, adding that the “aggression” is sponsored by the United States and Israel.

His comments came hours after Syrian opposition forces captured the strategic city of Homs in central Syria, their latest victory in a lightning offensive that was launched eight days ago.

Qassem did not give details of how Hezbollah would support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but said the Iran-aligned group would do what it could.

Hezbollah is currently observing a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Israel, after a year of war that has brought much devastation to Lebanon’s south in particular. Many of the group’s leadership have been killed in Israeli attacks, while tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have been driven from their homes.

‘Region already on fire’

Civilians have also borne the brunt of Syria’s 13-year-long war, which had been largely frozen since 2020 until opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, launched a new offensive from their strongholds in northwest Syria last week.

Over the weekend the rebels captured Aleppo, the country’s second largest city, before pushing south and entering Hama on Thursday.

More than 280,000 people have been displaced by the recent fighting, the United Nations World Food Programme said in a post on X.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the fighting and said the escalating conflict in Syria is the result of a “chronic collective failure” of diplomacy.

Guterres called for immediate humanitarian access to all civilians in need in Syria and a return to a UN-facilitated political process to end the bloodshed.

“Tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region already on fire,” Guterres told reporters.

“We are seeing the bitter fruits of a chronic collective failure of previous de-escalation arrangements to produce a genuine nationwide ceasefire or a serious political process to implement Security Council resolutions,” he said.

He urged “all those with influence to do their part for the long-suffering people” of Syria and said all parties are obligated to protect civilians.

While al-Assad relied heavily on Russian and Iranian backing throughout the most intense years of Syria’s war, some opposition groups established ties with Turkiye.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called on al-Assad to urgently find a “political solution” to the war.

“The Syrian regime must commit urgently with its people in favour of a global political solution,” Erdogan said in a call with Guterres, according to a statement released by the presidency.

Erdogan, whose country has become home to about three million Syrian refugees since the war started in 2011, has held several discussions with other leaders on the crisis in recent days.

“Turkiye has been striving to reduce tensions, protect civilians and open a political process and will continue to do so,” Erdogan was quoted as saying in the statement.

Highlighting that the conflict has reached a “new stage”, Erdogan said, “Turkiye’s biggest wish is that Syria does not become embroiled in bigger instability and see even more civilian victims.”

Erdogan was an outspoken critic of al-Assad for much of the war but has recently taken a more conciliatory line.