Reuters quoted security sources as saying that Israeli forces removed these mines and set up new barriers, indicating that Israel It may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while strengthening its defenses.
The sources stated, “This step indicates that Israel may be seeking for the first time to hit Hezbollah targets from a greater distance to the east on the Lebanese border while establishing a safe zone that enables it to freely conduct military monitoring operations of the armed group’s movements and prevent infiltration.”
The agency quoted informed sources as saying that Israel is moving the fence separating the demilitarized zone towards the Syrian side and is carrying out excavation work to establish more fortifications in the area.
According to the agency, military action, including launching raids from the occupied Golan and perhaps from the demilitarized zone separating it from Syrian territory, may lead to an expansion of the conflict between Israel on the one hand and Hezbollah and Hamas on the other hand, while Iran is close to engaging in the conflict and may be drawn into United States to him.
Nawar Shaaban, a researcher at the Istanbul-based Hermon Center, said that the operations in the Golan appear to be an attempt to prepare for a broader attack in Lebanon.
He added: “Everything that happens in Syria aims to serve Israel’s strategy in Lebanon by striking supply routes, warehouses, and people connected to Hezbollah’s supply lines.”
The agency quoted soldiers stationed in southern Syria and Lebanese security sources as saying that the removal of mines and other engineering work carried out by Israel has accelerated over the past weeks.
The sources also revealed that mine clearance work increased when Israel began its ground incursion on the first of October to combat Hezbollah Along the mountainous region that separates northern Israel from southern Lebanon, about 20 kilometers to the west.
She pointed out that during the same period, Israel intensified its strikes on Syria, including the capital and the border with Lebanon, and Russian military units stationed in southern Syria to support Syrian forces there withdrew from at least one observation site overlooking the demilitarized zone.
It also stated that Israel is moving the fence separating the occupied Golan and the demilitarized zone further towards Syria, and is erecting fortifications near it “so that there is no infiltration if this front ignites.”
The soldier said that Israel appears to be establishing a “buffer zone” in the demilitarized zone.
A high-ranking Lebanese security source said that Israeli forces dug a new trench near the demilitarized zone in October, stressing that mine clearance operations may allow Israeli forces to “encircle” Hezbollah from the east.
An official in the international peacekeeping forces said New York That is strength United Nations The disengagement monitor “recently observed some construction activities of Israeli military forces in the vicinity of the separation zone,” but did not provide further details.
Syrian and Lebanese sources also revealed that Russian forces had left the Tal Al-Hara site, which is the highest point in the governorate, in the meantime Daraa Southern Syria and a strategic observation point, and that the Russians left under understandings with the Israelis to prevent a clash.
