Israeli airstrike in Damascus/Twitter area
Despite the IDF's efforts to distance the process of Iranian entrenchment and Palestinian or Hezbollah terrorist activity in the Syrian Golan Heights, a shadow war is being waged against Israel in the region.
The Iranians and Hezbollah (this infrastructure is known as the "Golan dossier") are unable to establish their own bases in the Golan Heights because of Israeli aggression, so they combine activity from within Syrian army outposts mainly for intelligence gathering purposes.
At the same time, they are working to recruit residents of the villages and towns in the area for a variety of missions.
Palestinian operatives from Lebanon who were stationed in Syria for terrorist activity are commonly active in the area, or fighters from the pro-Iranian Shiite division Hussein Division.
Iranian Division in Syria/Walla!, IDF Spokesperson, Reuters, User Photos
Terrorism from Syrian territory
In the past, Islamic Jihad carried out terrorism from Syrian territory until a targeted killing attributed to Israel, whose objective was to kill PIJ political bureau member and head of the PIJ's military wing, Akram Ajouri. Ajuri was wounded and his son killed. Senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas figures transferred their activity from Syria to Lebanon, and received sponsorship from Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
Since the IDF responds to every action from Lebanese territory, the organizations are working to establish terrorist infrastructures in Syria in order to launch attacks against Israel.
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Position of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) - General Headquarters on the Lebanon-Syria border reportedly attacked by Israel, May 31, 2023/Screenshot, Twitter
Who was the target?
At this stage, it is unclear whether the targeted killing of the two operatives was an attack against a "ticking bomb" or a message to senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad figures in Gaza and abroad, who are undermining the Gaza Strip border and inflamed Palestinian mobs in recent weeks to detonate IEDs against IDF soldiers.
On the other hand, a senior Islamic Jihad official denied to Al-Mayadeen that the two killed in Syria were operatives in the organization.
The targeted killing in Syria, today/documentation on social networks under section 27A of the Copyright Law
The IDF's Response
Later today, IDF tanks attacked two makeshift structures used by the Syrian army, deviating from the 1974 agreement between Israel and Syria in the area of Ain al-Taniya.
The attack was carried out after IDF observations yesterday identified the two makeshift structures in the security zone. "The IDF holds the Syrian regime responsible for everything that happens in its territory and will not allow attempts to violate the separation agreement," the IDF Spokesperson said.
IDF tank in the Golan Heights (archive)/IDF Spokesperson
Late scenes of the attack
Yesterday afternoon, an armored force of the 82nd Battalion from the 7th Brigade entered an enclave in Israeli territory, east of the perimeter fence, in order to exercise sovereignty and repel any suspicious activity in the area, according to the definition of Northern Command commander Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin. The activity, known as the "Fortified Golan," was accompanied by observations by the 595th Eagle Battalion, which identified suspicious structures in the area while searching the area opposite the Syrian village of Ein al-Taniya, which is defined as a demilitarized zone.
After inquiries and intelligence cross-checks, it turned out that the Syrian Army had brought to the site two structures according to which Hezbollah operates on the Lebanese border (bringing in a mobile structure, the presence of a force for several weeks, and then building a permanent AB building).
The commander of the 210th Division, Brigadier General Zion Ratzon, who viewed with severity the violation of the Syrian army's separation of forces agreement, recommended destroying the buildings and forwarded the recommendation to the commander of the Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin, who supported and passed the chain of approvals for the attack in a rapid process. At first, several options for an attack were considered, and finally it was decided to assign the task to the fighters of the 82nd Battalion of the 7th Brigade. Less than 24 hours later, the fighters fired deterrent fire and stopped when they spotted children in the area, and after they moved away from the area, another shell fire was fired and the buildings were destroyed.
Sources in the defense establishment who are familiar with the details of the incident stressed that the IDF's response took place in less than 24 hours as part of past lessons, and that the issue of the Syrian army's provocation is still being examined by intelligence sources, whether it was an explicit instruction from the Assad regime, a local initiative, or the pushing and encouragement of Iranian and Hezbollah forces in the area. It is important to emphasize that so far Assad's army has not provoked the IDF along the border.
- More on the subject:
- Syria
- Hezbollah
- Islamic Jihad
- Golan Heights
