An investigation by the IDF into an attack on the Golan Heights on the March election day has revealed that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization was behind the assault, and was assisted by the Syrian Army.
Released on Tuesday, the investigation shows that Hezbollah terrorists were cooperating with Syrian army forces with the IDF also saying a Special Forces intelligence unit had observed “suspicious activities” in the area in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Snipers had opened fire from Syria into the Golan on March 2nd, prompting an Israeli counterstrike in which a senior Hezbollah operative was killed in a helicopter strike on the car he was driving.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, at the time of the attack, stated that “even on Election Day, our enemies are trying to hurt us, hurt the citizens of Israel, and disrupt the routine of our lives,” adding that “even on this day, as in all times of the year, we will cut off our enemies’ hands and not allow them to disrupt the routine of our lives. We will continue to give security to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
The IDF concluded its investigation with a warning to the Assad regime, stating it considered it “responsible for its territory.”
Hezbollah has played a significant role in the Iranian entrenchment on the Israeli-Syrian border with attacks on Israel from the Quneitra region not uncommon.
Five days prior to the attack, the IDF had killed a suspected terrorist in a strike inside Syria.
Various reports claim the man, killed in the Druze town of Khader, in the Quneitra area adjacent to the Israeli Golan Heights, was a senior Hezbollah operative named Imad Tawil who was entrusted with developing Iran’s infrastructure in the areas adjacent to Syria’s border with Israel.
Israel has previously bombed Hezbollah and Iranian infrastructure under construction in the area.
The IDF in March 2019 announced that it had exposed a clandestine Hezbollah unit that was operating in southern Syria in the area near the border with Israel and where today’s attack occurred.
The unit’s objective is to establish another front against Israel from the Golan Heights, in addition to Hezbollah’s threat from Lebanon.
The IDF published classified information about the “Golan File,” the name for the unit which is commanded by Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior operative in the Lebanon-based terrorist organization.
Daqduq is wanted in the US for 2007 attacks on American servicemen in Iraq and was described by the US Treasury Department as “commander of a Hezbollah special forces unit and chief of a protective detail for Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.”
The purpose of the Hezbollah infrastructure is to act against Israel at a time of deterioration. The infrastructure is at its preliminary stages and has yet to reach the level needed for operational activity and is still in the process of development and consolidation.
Since the exposure of the unit, Israel has reportedly acted against the Iranian-led attempt on several occasions.
In general, Iran’s military build-up in Syria remains a red line for Israel. The IAF has carried out thousands of attacks to thwart the Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country.