The IDF is anxiously following about 40,000 militia volunteers and mercenaries who came from various countries in the Middle East including Iraq, Yemen, and Syria, and are assembled in Syria, near the Golan Heights, awaiting the call of the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah to join the fighting, Haaretz reported Tuesday night.
Israel’s security establishment says that even though they are not professional fighters, it’s still a matter of concern. “They are not elite fighters, but the Hamas Nukhba forces were not professional, and yet we have seen what a force of 2,000-3,000 armed men can do when they surprise attack a settlement,” a senior security official told Haaretz, adding, “This is a risk we cannot take, and if necessary, we will also act in Syria to make it clearer to Assad that we no longer accept their presence there.”
According to various media reports, between the middle of 2023 and the middle of 2024, there was a decrease in the number of Iranian positions throughout Syria, from 570 to 529. Of those, 52 are military bases and 477 outposts, spread as follows: 117 in Aleppo province, 109 in Damascus province, 77 in Deir ez-Zor, 67 in Homs, 28 in Hama, 27 in Idlib, 20 in Quneitra, 17 in Latakia, 16 in Daraa, 14 in Raqqa, 13 in Sweida, nine in Tartus, eight in Hasaka, and seven in the city of Damascus.
On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian Air Force Defenses on the coast have been battling to intercept consecutive attacks over beaches and Syrian regional water for nearly three hours. The Airforce Defenses managed to shoot down 13 missiles or drones – they weren’t sure – off the shore of Tartus and Jabala on the Syrian coast. Syrian radars monitored fighter jets over the Mediterranean. The attack may have targeted militia bases.
While the economic and social situation in Iran itself is dire, the Ayatollahs’ regime invests capital in the development of the pro-Iranian militias, which it calls the “axis of resistance.” The estimated scope of Iran’s annual investment in militias in Syria, Iraq, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen amounts to $16 billion every year (Thank you, President Obama). In comparison, only $700 million is transferred annually to Hezbollah.
