Syrian front beginning to intensify without much notice

The IDF explained that the operation was intended to reduce Hezbollah's ability to harm Israel by striking arms transfers and intelligence centers in Syria.

By WALLA! NOVEMBER 16, 2024 02:10 Updated: NOVEMBER 16, 2024 02:22

A car drives near a damaged building in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in the Mezzah suburb, west of Damascus, Syria October 9, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Firas Makdesi)

Israel's attacks in Syria have become more frequent in recent days; on Friday, for the second day in a row, Israel attacked the Mezzeh suburb of Damascus, according to the Syrian news agency SANA.

On Thursday, 15 people were killed in the Israeli attack on the suburb and on the Qadisiyah neighborhood. Reuters had stated these areas in Damascus were once the residences of senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials and are now used by representatives of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah.

Israel has not yet commented on the attack reported in Syria on Friday but said that it targeted military targets and Islamic Jihad headquarters on Thursday.

The IDF announced a day prior that it had attacked Syrian regime crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border, which were used to transfer weapons to Hezbollah.

In the statement, the IDF said that in recent months, it had attacked the area extensively to degrade Iran's ability to transfer weapons through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 15, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/ADNAN ABIDI)

The IDF explained that the operation was intended to reduce Hezbollah's ability to harm Israel.

"The attack on the crossings constitutes damage to the capabilities of Hezbollah's Unit 4400," it said. "This unit is responsible for arms transfers from Iran through Syria and from there to Lebanon, which are used to issue terror plans against IDF troops and the Israeli home front."

Degrading Hezbollah infrastructure

Ten days ago, the IDF attacked infrastructure and assets belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Damascus.

The unit, which operates independently, was directly commanded by Hezbollah's intelligence chief, Husain Ali Hazzima, until he was killed in Beirut a month ago.

The IDF announced earlier on Friday that fighter jets launched a third wave of attacks in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut. The IDF says that prior to the attack, advance warnings were sent to evacuate the population in the area.

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The IAF also attacked a rocket cache and 15 rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that day, some of which were ready to launch.