Israel is moving the army to Syria out of fear of rebels

Already on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they had reinforced the units deployed along the Syrian-Israeli border. It concerns both intelligence and reconnaissance units, as well as ground forces and air force. “The IDF is determined to prevent any violation of the State of Israel,” the army said, according to Ynet.

The Israeli army emphasized that the deployment of units in the buffer zone will be temporary, but the time cannot be estimated, it depends on developments. The deployment of Israeli troops was carried out in coordination with the UN UNDOF forces. Already on Saturday, the Israelis had to fend off an armed group that tried to attack the UN position with artillery.

On Sunday, the Israeli Air Force carried out several air strikes near Damascus, where they targeted advanced weapons systems and weapons warehouses so that they did not fall into the hands of the rebels. One of the targets was supposed to be a chemical weapons warehouse.

A convoy of 150 armored vehicles with hundreds of Hezbollah fighters leaving the city of Qusayr near Homs became the target of the raid.

At the same time, Israel published a message for the rebels who have taken over the Syrian part of the Golan Heights not to cross the Alpha Line, which is the demilitarized zone between the two countries.

For Israel, the fall of the Assad regime is welcome because it represented another piece in the mosaic of Iranian vassals in the region. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards built their bases in Syria, and Iran’s main ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah, which was one of the strongest enemies Israel had on its borders, was supplied through Syria. Israel is interested in Syria not being part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance and no longer having members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and militias paid by Iran, The Jerusalem Post wrote.

He pointed out, however, that the challenge for Israel will be who becomes the head of Syria. The offensive was led by al-Qaeda-linked Sunni group Hajjat ​​Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Turkish-backed Islamist groups. Israel has bad experiences with these similar groups, and Hamas has similar roots. Their progress towards Israel’s borders is not without danger.

The leader of HTS is the Saudi Arab Abu Muhammad Julani, who headed al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, the Nusra Front, and his epithet Julani refers to the Golan Heights, part of which Israel has occupied since 1967. He himself stated that he became radicalized under the impression of the second intifada in in 2000. Then he fought in the Islamic State in Iraq, which was an Iraqi branch al-Qaeda. In recent years, however, he has expressed more moderate views. However, the Sunni rebel groups in the south of Syria are also Islamist and radical.

Israel was also surprised by the rapid progress of the rebels, which was not preceded by any protests. Israel considered the Assad regime to be stable. He wanted to focus primarily on ensuring that Syria does not help restore Hezbollah, which he has dealt severe blows since August.

He counted on Russian help in controlling Israel’s border with Syria, but the Russian soldiers withdrew from it, Ynet reported.