Israel To Expand Operations Against Hezbollah, Removes Mines On Syrian Border

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – There were signs Tuesday that Israel planned to expand ground operations against Hezbollah as its troops cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and a demilitarized strip bordering Syria.

The move suggested that Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time “from further east along Lebanon’s border,” security sources said.

It would also enable the Jewish nation’s military to attack Hezbollah while preventing infiltration by the Iran-backed Islamic fighting force, according to officials familiar with the situation.

The Israeli operations began shortly after Russian forces recently vacated Golan outposts in coordination with Israel to avoid friction, Worthy learned.

Navvar Saban, a conflict analyst at the Istanbul-based Harmoon Center, said in published remarks that the operations in the Golan, a hilly, 1,200 square km (460 square miles) plateau that also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan appeared to be an attempt to “prepare the groundwork” for a broader offensive in Lebanon.

“Everything happening in Syria is to serve Israel’s strategy in Lebanon – hitting supply routes, hitting warehouses, hitting people linked to the supply lines to Hezbollah,” Saban warned.

Israel maintains it fights for its existence but says Iran’s proxies, such as Hezbollah, designated as a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, use civilians as human shields.

Hezbollah joined the war against the Jewish nation last year after its ally Hamas massacred some 1,200 people inside Israel.

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