In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon while bolstering its own defences, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarised strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.
The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon’s border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoiter the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.
While demining activity has been reported, sources – including a Syrian soldier stationed in south Syria, a Lebanese security official and a U.N. peacekeeping official – revealed additional unreported details that showed Israel was moving the fence separating the DMZ towards the Syrian side and digging more fortifications in the area.
Military action involving raids from the Israeli-occupied Golan and possibly from the demilitarised zone that separates it from Syrian territory could widen the conflict pitting Israel against Hezbollah and its ally Hamas that has already drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the U.S.
Israel has been trading fire with Tehran-backed Hezbollah since the group began launching missiles across Lebanon’s border in support of Hamas after its deadly attack on southern Israel triggered Israel’s military campaign on Gaza.
Now, in addition to Israeli aerial strikes that have caused Hezbollah significant damage in the past month, the group is under Israeli ground assault from the south and faces Israeli naval shelling from the Mediterranean to the west.
By extending its front in the east, Israel could tighten its squeeze on Hezbollah’s arms supply routes, some of which cut across Syria, Lebanon’s eastern neighbour and an ally of Iran.
Navvar Saban, a conflict analyst at the Istanbul-based Harmoon Center, said the operations in the Golan, a hilly, 1,200 square km plateau that also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan, appeared to be an attempt to “prepare the groundwork” for a broader offensive in Lebanon.
“Everything happening in Syria is to serve Israel’s strategy in Lebanon – hitting supply routes, hitting warehouses, hitting people linked to the supply lines to Hezbollah,” he said.
Israel’s mine removal and engineering works have accelerated in recent weeks, according to a Syrian intelligence officer
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
