Syria says it foiled Hezbollah plot to attack Homs refinery

Syria's internal security forces, working with the country's General Intelligence Service, have arrested members of a cell linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah on charges of planning an attack on the Homs oil refinery. Syria's official news agency announced on Tuesday 3 November 2026 that explosives and equipment prepared for the attack had been seized.

Syrian officials have not disclosed how many people were detained or when the plot was uncovered. The Homs refinery is one of Syria's main refineries and an important source of fuel for the country's domestic market.

Hezbollah's response

Hezbollah flatly rejected the accusation, calling it "a pure lie". The group said it has no presence, organisational ties or operational activity in Syria and is not involved in any action against the country's internal security.

Past accusations against the Islamic Republic's Lebanese arm

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria's new government has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of plotting assassinations, rocket attacks and arms smuggling. In July, Syrian officials also said they had intercepted a smuggling shipment on the Iraqi border that, according to them, was bound for Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is the Islamic Republic's most important proxy group in the region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fought alongside Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war, and his fall cut off the main route by which the Islamic Republic's weapons reached Hezbollah. The new accusation comes as Islamic Republic officials, after the US attack on Qeshm, have threatened that their response will have no geographical limits.

Damascus says a cell linked to Hezbollah intended to blow up the Homs refinery, one of Syria's main sources of fuel.