Tel Aviv has officially recognized Syria as a fourth front for military operations. Notably, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy credited these developments to engagements by ground forces throughout the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. The news follows a backdrop of intensifying regional hostilities and Israel’s expanded military campaigns to try to counter mounting threats from Iran-adjacent forces, including Hezbollah and other militias.
Over the past week, Israel’s operations in Syria ramped up… The strikes destroyed targeted Iranian networks as well as infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah. In a particularly famous operation, a senior Hezbollah commander in charge of its Golan File, Ali Musa Daqduq, was killed. These activities are part of broader efforts to thwart the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah and to neutralize hostile elements throughout Israel’s northern borders. Simultaneously, Israel has bolstered its defenses along the Golan Heights, including building barriers, roads, and ramparts meant to deter incursions.
Its annexation by Israel in 1981 of the Golan Heights, a zone of strategic importance, has made the area historically fraught. Despite a 1974 disengagement agreement, Israeli defensive structures are seen encroaching into the UN-supervised buffer zone along the Alpha Line in just released satellite imagery, prompting criticism for the alleged violations. And while Israel points to defensive motives, the UN peacekeeping forces, deployed to monitor the fragile cease-fire arrangements, have expressed concern that these measures are upending those arrangements.
The situation is complicated by the presence of Russian military forces in Syria, which are backing the Assad regime. Tensions are particularly acute in the absence of existing coordination measures to prevent direct clashes, especially in light of reports of heightened activity among Russian troops near the border. Adding to the murkiness, Israel has recently transferred two facilities in southern Syria’s Daraa province to Russia, according to reports, though the specifics are murky.
Israel’s dual-front engagements represent a strategic effort to secure its borders in response to threats from both its north and its south. But such actions increase the danger of a wider conflagration in an already volatile region. Due to their potential consequences for Middle Eastern stability and global geopolitics, these developments are being monitored closely by the international community.
According to Yahoo News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he had ordered the Israeli military to “seize” a demilitarised buffer zone on the border with Syria after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
