Anti-Lebanon Operations

Between June and August 1926, the French army conducted a series of battles and skirmishes in the Anti-Lebanon range to eliminate the last organised pockets of Druze resistance. Facing guerrilla entrenched in deep valleys and inaccessible villages, colonial troops adopted a methodical encirclement strategy. These operations mark the final phase of the Syrian revolt: Sultan al-Atrash was forced into exile, and the rebellion ceased to exist as a structured force.

After the fall of the great strongholds of Jabal al-Druze (Suwayda, al-Qrayya, Salkhad), rebels withdrew toward the Anti-Lebanon mountain range, on the border between Syria and Lebanon. This rugged region offered natural refuges, caves, and terrain favourable to guerrilla warfare. Insurgents hoped to exhaust the French through the irregularity of combat. But Gamelin, learning from the mistakes of 1925, prepared a series of coordinated columns, equipped for mountain warfare and supported by constant aviation.

French troops advanced slowly, along parallel valleys, conducting sweep operations. Aviation bombed passes and suspect villages. Columns encircled rebel groups, isolated them from water points, and forced their surrender or dispersion. Fierce fighting took place at Hasbaya, Rashaya, and in the gorges of Zahlé. Rebels, though courageous, lacked ammunition, supplies, and strategic communications. Druze cavalry attempted several nocturnal breakthroughs, without success.

The Anti-Lebanon operations marked the military end of the Syrian revolt. Sultan al-Atrash fled to Transjordan, and most rebel chiefs were captured or executed. France re-established its authority over the Levant, but at the price of heavy international discredit, notably due to aerial bombardment of civilians. In Paris, debates on the mandate intensified. In Syria, repression left deep resentment, which would nourish Arab nationalisms in the decades to come.