Israeli troops have cleared landmines and erected new barriers along the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the demilitarized zone adjacent to Syria, according to a report on Reuters.
Security sources and analysts indicate that this action may signal Israel's intention to expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while enhancing its own defenses.
This development suggests that Israel could aim to target Hezbollah from a more eastern position along Lebanon's border, while also establishing a secure area to monitor the armed group and prevent any infiltration. Sources indicate that, alongside reported demining activities, additional unreported details show Israel moving the fence that separates the demilitarized zone closer to the Syrian side and constructing further fortifications in the area.
Military operations, including raids from the Israeli-occupied Golan and potentially from the demilitarized zone, could escalate the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as its ally Hamas, which has already drawn in Iran and poses risks of US involvement.
In addition to Israeli airstrikes that have inflicted significant damage on Hezbollah over the past month, the group is now facing ground assaults from the south and naval shelling from the Mediterranean to the west.
By extending its operations to the east, Israel could tighten its control over Hezbollah's arms supply routes, some of which traverse Syria, Lebanon's eastern neighbor and an ally of Iran.
According to a Syrian intelligence officer, a Syrian soldier stationed in southern Syria and three senior Lebanese security sources, Israel's mine removal and engineering efforts have intensified in recent weeks.
Israel has escalated its strikes in Syria, including in the capital and along the Lebanon border, while Russian military units, which had been stationed in southern Syria to support local troops, have reportedly withdrawn from at least one observation post overlooking the demilitarized area.
All sources spoke anonymously to discuss Israel's military activities in the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967. A Syrian soldier in the south noted that Israel is pushing the fence separating the occupied Golan and the demilitarized zone further out, constructing fortifications near Syria "to prevent any infiltration should this front escalate."
The soldier mentioned that Israel appears to be establishing "a buffer zone" in the area. A second senior Lebanese security source informed Reuters that Israeli troops dug a new trench in the region in October.
One senior Lebanese security source suggested that the demining operations could enable Israeli forces to "encircle" Hezbollah from the east.
In a report to the United Nations Security Council on UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) activities dated September 24 and reviewed by Reuters on October 4, both sides were cited for violations within the demilitarized zone.
Russian troops have vacated the Tal Hara outpost, a strategic vantage point in Syria's southern Daraa governorate, according to the two Syrian sources and one Lebanese source. A Syrian military officer stated that the Russians departed following agreements with Israel to avoid clashes.
Syrian authorities, aligned with Iran's "Axis of Resistance," have attempted to remain neutral amid rising regional tensions following Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023. In January, it was reported that Bashar al-Assad was discouraged from supporting Hamas by Israeli threats, while Hezbollah has "steered away" from strengthening its forces in the Syrian-held Golan.
According to a Syrian military intelligence officer, Syria's army has not made any further deployments.
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