Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, we assessed that ISIS would gain strength and increase its activity in the Syrian arena, particularly in eastern and southern Syria, with potential implications for Lebanon. Recently, several troubling indications have emerged regarding the resurgence of ISIS terrorist activity in southern Syria and Lebanon. On May 30, 2025, ISIS claimed responsibility for an IED (improvised explosive device) attack targeting the security forces of the new regime in the Suwayda area, in which seven people and an ambulance were hit (see photos). In Lebanon, a terrorist infrastructure affiliated with ISIS, named ” Wilayat Lubnan” (“Islamic State’s Lebanon Province”) was uncovered. Lebanese military intelligence exposed the network, which had planned a series of attacks against state institutions, including an assault on prisons aimed at releasing detainees affiliated with the organization. Members of the cell operated in northern Lebanon, in the Beqaa region, and in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp.
The name of the network, ” Wilayat Lubnan”,” suggests the establishment of a new local Lebanese branch of ISIS and preparations for sustained operations within Lebanese territory. Until now, ISIS cells operating in Lebanon had identified themselves as part of “Wilayat Al-Sham” (“Syria Province”). The Sunni population, along with Palestinian communities and Syrian refugees in Lebanon, provides fertile ground for ISIS activity, which has periodically resurfaced in Lebanon for many years.
