Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's leadership in Syria will likely embolden Islamists in both Lebanon and Jordan, while Syria's turbulent political transition will likely prompt another wave of refugees into both neighboring countries, encouraging jihadist groups, exacerbating political tensions and worsening security conditions there. On Dec. 15, the Syrian Islamist political and militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , which led the rebels' advance that on Dec. 8 toppled the Syrian regime, established military control of Syria's main border crossings with Jordan and Lebanon. A day earlier, the general secretary of Lebanon's political and militant group Hezbollah, Naim Kassem, said the group had lost its supply route through Syria after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, but he added that Hezbollah "cannot judge [Syria's] new [HTS-led leaders] until they stabilise.