The Lebanese Army and the terrorist group Hezbollah are reportedly upping their preparedness in the southern part of Lebanon in response to flyovers by the Israeli Air Force this past week.
The pan-Arab London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi reported Friday that Lebanese officials fear that an Israeli strike, similar to Israel’s alleged strike on Syrian targets last month, is imminent in light of multiple “mock raids.”
The growing unrest in Damascus, and President Bashar Assadcontinuous attempts to blame the West in general and Israel is particular for the violence plaguing the country, has translated into growing agitation; and the volatile climate means one thing – a terror attack against Israeli targets in the area is only a matter of time.
Not 'if' – when
Syria, as a symbol that it does recognize Israel's sovereignty in the Golan Heights, has never built a border fence in the area. Israel's original border, laid out in 1976 and now rusting away, is being replaced with a state-of-the-art fence.
"In my 25 years in the IDF, I've never seen such non-combat deployment in the area," Nahal Commander Colonel Yehuda Fox, whose troops are preparing to relieve Golani troops along the border, told Ynet.
"We're gearing for all scenarios in the sectors. The build-up is underway. If we do see a complex terror attack on the border, the last thing we could say is that is was a surprise and any such incident would have to be contained very quickly."
The timing of such a terror attack, if the IDF's scenarios prove true – whether it would take place before or after the demise of Assad's regime – is unknown; and neither is the nature of the day after.
Israel is keeping a close eye on Syria and will act if it sees any indication that weapons are being transferred to Hezbollah, military experts said in an interview published Saturday.
A reported Israeli attack on a Syrian weapons convoy could be only the first volley in a series of upcoming strikes against Damascus and Hezbollah should the embattled regime try to transfer weapons to the Lebanese terror group, former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin told the Washington Post.
“Any time Israel will have reliable intelligence that this is going to be transferred from Syria to Lebanon, it will act,” the paper reported Yadlin saying.
He added the caveat that the decision to strike would still be made on a case by case basis.
Hezbollah has reportedly been preparing for the possibility of more attacks, the pan-Arab London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi reported Friday, citing an increase in Israeli fighter jets flying over southern Lebanese airspace and carrying out “mock raids.”
On Saturday the Lebanese army said Israeli “spy drones” had clocked over 17 hours over Lebanese territory in the past day.
Yadlin told the paper that Israel was looking out for four types of weapons: ballistic rockets, air-defense arms, land-to-sea missiles and chemical weapons.
Hezbollah reportedly already holds some of these weapons within Syrian territory, but cannot move them without risking Israeli action.
Yadlin said that the risk of escalation became greater as Assad’s rule grew languid.
“As the Syrian army becomes weaker and Hezbollah grows more isolated because of the loss of its Syrian patron, it makes sense that this will continue,” he said.
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