Security sources and analysts, in a report published by Reuters, said that Israeli forces have removed landmines and set up new barriers on the border between the occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarized strip on the border with Syria. This indicates that Israel might be expanding its ground operations against Hezbollah while strengthening its defenses. Sources told Reuters that this step suggests that Israel might, for the first time, be targeting Hezbollah from further east on the Lebanese border while creating a safe zone that allows for free military surveillance of the militant group’s movements and prevents infiltration. While reports indicate that Israel is removing mines, sources revealed additional unpublished details to Reuters, showing that Israel is moving the separation fence between the demilitarized zone toward the Syrian side and carrying out excavations to establish more fortifications in the area. Among the sources were a Syrian soldier stationed in southern Syria, a Lebanese security official, and a UN peacekeeping official.
A military action, including strikes from the Israeli-occupied Golan and possibly from the demilitarized zone separating it from Syrian territory, could widen the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and its ally, Hamas. The conflict has already drawn in Iran and risks pulling the United States into it. Israel has been exchanging fire with Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, since the group began firing rockets across the Lebanese border in support of Hamas after its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which ignited the ongoing war in Gaza. In addition to Israeli airstrikes that caused significant damage to Hezbollah last month, September 2024, the group is currently facing an Israeli ground attack from the south and Israeli shelling from the Mediterranean to the west. By expanding its front to the east, Israel could tighten its grip on Hezbollah’s weapon supply routes, some of which pass through Syria and its supporter, Iran.
Media outlets also reported that Israeli forces have been conducting engineering work since last week, in the presence of tanks and ground forces, along the border with Syria, opposite the Golan Heights, inside Syrian territory, according to Syrian opposition media reports. The Israeli army denies the presence of Israeli forces on the Syrian side of the border. According to information approved by Israeli military censorship, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli forces began opening paths along the border in the buffer zone controlled by the UN peacekeeping force in southern Syria, “UNDOF,” on Thursday. This work began on September 22, with the removal of landmines. A few days later, an Israeli army brigade, supported by tanks and heavy machinery, advanced 300 meters into Syrian territory. The works included paving a new road, digging trenches, and establishing new fortifications and observation points near the border.
The forces are active in the Harsh al-Shahr area near the town of Jabatha al-Khashab north of Quneitra, where heavy machinery began digging a trench four meters wide, extending from the town of Hadar to the “Blue Line” set by the UN, passing through the town of Jabatha al-Khashab. This activity aims to facilitate future Israeli ground operations in Syrian territory along the border if necessary, but also to counter the plans of Iran-backed militias stationed in Syria to carry out a ground invasion similar to the one on October 7 on the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan.
Meanwhile, heavy artillery stationed in the Koniko field in Deir ez-Zor countryside bombarded positions of Iran-affiliated militias in the village of Al-Jafra near Deir ez-Zor military airport in eastern Syria. Additionally, American artillery bombarded the outskirts of the towns of Khasham and Huwayja Sakar in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor. The U.S. bombardment of points and crossings used by Iran-backed factions in Deir ez-Zor countryside has continued for some time, aiming to prevent the movement of their forces and stop the flow of weapons and missiles to them. Simultaneously, live-fire drills took place at the al-Shaddadi base south of al-Hasakah, involving Apache helicopters, which continued to hover over the area.
The de-escalation zones in northwestern Syria, known as the “Putin-Erdogan” area, have entered an unprecedented phase of escalation with attacks and military reinforcements from various parties. Two Turkish bases near Azaz and in the village of Dabiq, north of Aleppo, were shelled by forces from the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) and the Syrian army in northern Aleppo. This coincided with heavy Russian airstrikes in Idlib and around the Kabani hills in northern Latakia countryside, amid talk of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) preparing for a large-scale military operation against Syrian forces in Aleppo and Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Russian warplanes launched several airstrikes within the “Putin-Erdogan” area, which covers northern Latakia, western Hama countryside, as well as Aleppo and Idlib.
At the same time, mutual shelling between Syrian forces and HTS continues, with intense military reinforcements from both sides, amid HTS preparations for a military operation in Aleppo that Turkey strongly opposes due to fears of its impact on the humanitarian situation in Idlib, which hosts around 4 million displaced people and a large number of refugee camps. Turkey has threatened HTS with closing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, the lifeline for Idlib and northwestern Syria, and preventing any supplies from entering it. Amid these developments, the Turkish army has sent new military reinforcements to its points in Jabal al-Zawiya in southern Idlib in the form of a convoy of 15 closed trucks loaded with logistical and military materials, accompanied by more than 10 armored vehicles and personnel carriers. In the past three weeks, Turkey has sent more than 190 military vehicles to its points in Idlib, and to sites where its forces are stationed in the “Euphrates Shield” and “Olive Branch” areas in Aleppo. It also sent advanced radar systems and activated aircraft jamming devices in Idlib.
The two sides also conduct joint patrols in Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), along with other patrols on the frontlines between Turkish forces and the Syrian National Army, allied with Ankara, in northeastern Syria, under a Turkish-Russian agreement signed on October 22, 2019, following Turkey’s “Peace Spring” military operation against the SDF in eastern Euphrates. Turkey has refrained from participating in joint patrols in northeastern Syria for some time, accusing Moscow and Washington, which signed a similar agreement with Turkey in 2019, of failing to fulfill their commitments to distance the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the largest component of the SDF, from its southern border by 30 kilometers.
