Lebanese Prime Minister reveals the results of his talks in Syria
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced the agreement to establish joint committees to enhance cooperation between Lebanon and Syria in all fields, stressing that significant progress has been made in addressing the outstanding issues between the two countries.
During a press conference held by Salam at Damascus airport on Saturday (May 9th), before he left Syria, Nawaf explained that we have made "significant progress" in addressing the issues between Lebanon and Syria, especially those that have been pending them, and the results "will be visible soon."
The two countries "decided to establish joint and technical committees to enhance cooperation between Lebanon and Syria in all fields," he said, stressing the agreement to "accelerate the launch of a joint Lebanese-Syrian business council, with its first meeting to be held in Damascus in the coming weeks."
Salam said he discussed with President al-Sharia what he described as the "great challenges" facing Lebanon and Syria in light of the rapid regional developments on more than one level.
Salam explained that they "discussed following up on the implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries on the transfer of sentenced prisoners to Syria and revealing the fate of the missing in both countries."
The Lebanese prime minister also stressed that Lebanon "will not allow his country to be used again as a platform to abuse our Arab brothers, especially Syria."
As for the displaced Syrians, Salam said that talks with Syria stopped "when it is necessary to continue dialogue and co-operation to facilitate the safe return of the displaced to their homes, and to organise Syrian labor with Lebanon".
With regard to borders and crossings, Salam said he stressed the need to tighten control the Syrian-Lebanese border and prevent smuggling in all its forms, pointing to discussing issues related to crossings and facilitating the movement of people and goods.
"We discussed the issues of land transport and trucks, the railway link between Syria and Lebanon, border crossings and bridges, and the urgent need to operate border bridges and regulate movement through them, in addition to following up on border inspection problems and measures related to restrictions on movement, shipping and export fees," Salam said.
Brief statement by the Syrian presidency
The Syrian presidency only issued a brief statement about the visit that it published through its official identifiers, in which it said that President Al-Sharia discussed with Salam "ways to strengthen bilateral relations and develop economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, as well as regional and international developments" without entering into any details.
The visit of the Lebanese Chief of Staff to Syria came after his second visit on April 14, 2025, following a shuttle visit by French Chief of Staff Vincent Giroud to Damascus and Beirut, during which he carried an initiative from his country to demarcate the Syrian-Lebanese border, where the French general discussed, last Tuesday, with Aoun the details of the French initiative aimed at contributing to the demarcation of the land border between Lebanon and Syria, within the framework of a renewed diplomatic effort led by Paris.
The initiative is based on maps and historical documents from the archives of the French Mandate period (1920-1943), which Paris had previously handed over to the two parties, with the aim of facilitating the identification of overlapping border points and establishing clear technical foundations for the demarcation process.
According to official sources, through this step, France aims to end decades of border problems, strengthen Lebanese sovereignty, help control illegal crossings and curb smuggling, which will reflect stability on the border and the region in general.
Syria repatriates 300 people from Lebanon's prisons
Last February, Syria and Lebanon signed an agreement to transfer about 300 Syrian convicts to their country as part of the two countries' efforts to resolve the issue of Syrian detainees in Lebanon, which dates back to the years of the revolution in Syria until the overthrow of the old regime in late 2024.
Syria announced the delivery of the first batch of prisoners in Lebanese prisons last March, while official estimates indicate that the number of Syrian detainees in Lebanon's prisons is about 2,500, which constitutes about a third of the total number of prisoners in Lebanon.
About 1.5 million displaced Syrians in Lebanon
Official and international estimates for 2026 indicate that the total number of displaced Syrians in Lebanon currently ranges between 1.4 and 1.5 million people, after a significant decline over the past two years.
UNHCR data shows that there are between 700,000 and 800,000 officially registered, while the previous Lebanese government estimated the number at 2.1 million before the change in the field landscape.
This decline is due to accelerated waves of returns, most notably the departure of more than 630,000 displaced people during 2025, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs, in addition to the return of about 120,000 Syrians since the beginning of 2026 as a result of the military escalation inside Lebanon.