BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Lebanese Armed Forces on Aug. 19 announced the launch of Fajr al-Joroud, an offensive against the Islamic State (IS) along the Lebanese-Syrian border. The campaign follows on the heels of a late July Hezbollah- and Syrian army-led offensive, backed by the Lebanese army, against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra) outside Arsal. The two operations indicate that a mutual decision must have been made by the three forces to remove the IS and al-Qaeda threats along their shared border. A week into the Arsal offensive, Hezbollah proclaimed victory and reached a cease-fire agreement with the fighters in the area.

The Lebanese Armed Forces have been trained and equipped by numerous Western countries, but mainly the United States and the United Kingdom. On the first day of the Fajr al-Joroud offensive, Lebanese Armed Forces spokesman Ali Qanso pronounced, “The Lebanese army is not coordinating with Hezbollah and the Syrian army, either directly or indirectly.” That said, images and sources on the ground suggest a different reality, indicating close coordination between the Lebanese Armed Forces, Hezbollah and the Syrian army. This led to mockery on social media and the posting of pictures of Hezbollah fighters and Lebanese army soldiers side by side in the offensive accompanied by a hashtag in Arabic that loosely translates, “Oh what a coincidence!” Meanwhile, British and US officials have both confirmed their forces' active presence among the Lebanese Armed Forces in the previous and ongoing border operations, resulting in an incredibly awkward reality on the ground.

A Lebanese source with close contacts in both Hezbollah and the Lebanese Armed Forces pointed to one of the clearest indicators of the level of coordination among Hezbollah and the Lebanese and Syrian armies in describing the launch of Fajr al-Joroud. “It was supposed to have started earlier that week, but Hezbollah and the Syrians weren’t ready until Thursday [Aug. 17],” he told Al-Monitor. “Once they were all ready, the Lebanese army announced the launch of the offensive on Saturday [Aug. 19]. They literally waited for their partners to be ready.”

In an Aug. 3 television interview, Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk described the level of long-running cooperation and coordination between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Syrian army. “For many years, the Lebanese army has had a liaison officer with the Syrian army and vice versa,” he said. “We are not in a war with Syria, so this coordination and communication between the two countries have always existed. There is nothing preventing the Syrian army from participating in the next offensive, as coordination exists.”