Israel’s Battle to Curb Arms Flow to Hezbollah

September 2, 2024

by: Ynetnews

Monday, 2 September 2024 | Since the start of the war, Israel has increased its attacks on terror targets in Syria, including targeted killings and airstrikes on fuel depots and arms stores. Despite those efforts, Israel has not succeeded in slowing Hezbollah’s military advancements, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, or its fortification along Lebanon’s border with Israel.

According to the paper, this is evidence that Iran continues to take advantage of countries with weak central governments as a conduit of its aggressions that now constitute an increased threat of a regional war.

Israel’s latest drone strike against a senior member of the Islamic Jihad near the Syria–Lebanon border earlier this week was the latest in over 180 attacks on Syria territory since October.

Israel’s efforts to target terrorists are part of its efforts to disrupt the supply of arms to the Lebanese terror group which is now the largest terrorist military force in the region with an estimated 150,000 strong fighting force and powerful missiles and rockets able to target the entire Israeli territory.

According to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], the attack on Wednesday targeted an operative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) that was responsible for arming the group in Lebanon and Syria and participated in attacks against Israel’s north.

Senior Israeli officials told the paper that to limit the repercussions of the Israeli attacks, the IDF did not claim responsibility for some of them especially when Hezbollah operatives were killed.

They said the Syrian regime, which was weakened by the long years of civil war, decided not to respond militarily and both Damascus and Iran have downplayed the damage caused.

The efficacy of Israel’s attack in Syria is mixed, the officials said. Syria has been deterred from joining the fighting and is preoccupied with its war against the Kurds and ISIS.

But several Israeli security experts told the WSJ that Israel will have to ultimately decide whether to expand its campaign in Syria to disrupt the arms flow to Hezbollah, more efficiently.

“Syria is part of the Iranian axis and most of Hezbollah’s arms are transported through it.”

Posted on September 2, 2024

Source: (Excerpt from an article originally published by Ynetnews on August 31, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

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