Israel warns Syria of ‘direct price’ to pay if it helps Hezbollah rearm
IDF spokesman says military ‘will act’ against all weapon deliveries to Lebanese terror group, including in Syria; Netanyahu says Assad ‘playing with fire’
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A series of Israeli strikes on border crossings between Lebanon and Syria just before a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect Wednesday morning were intended to set back the terror group’s smuggling efforts, while driving home as a stark warning to Damascus that Israel will take severe action to prevent attempts to rearm Hezbollah with Iranian weapons via Syrian territory.
The Israel Defense Forces has said that amid the truce it would continue to act to prevent all weapon deliveries to the Lebanese terror group, including by striking shipments anywhere in Lebanon or Syria.
“We struck on Syrian soil all attempts to transfer weapons to Hezbollah. If we detect intentions to transfer weapons to the organization — we will act,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference Wednesday night.
In a briefing Wednesday, a senior military official said that the IDF would not just strike the weapon shipments, but Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime would pay for aiding Hezbollah.
“If Syria helps Hezbollah to rebuild, they will pay direct prices. Not only the convoys will be attacked, but there will be prices to pay in Syria as well,” the official said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “Assad must understand that he is playing with fire” by enabling Iranian shipments to Hezbollah to pass.
In the hours before the ceasefire early Wednesday, the IDF carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah’s missile program and smuggling routes.
Three border crossings between northern Lebanon and Syria, which the military said were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, were destroyed. The IDF assessed that it would take time to repair the crossings, and during that time, Hezbollah would have limited routes to bring in weapons, which would be easier for Israel to monitor.
Also in the hours before the ceasefire, Israeli fighter jets destroyed the terror group’s largest underground precision-guided missile manufacturing site in Lebanon, the IDF said.
The site was hidden in a subterranean complex that stretched for 1.4 kilometers (nearly a mile) near the town of Janta in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, adjacent to the Syrian border.
Fighter jets pounded the location for over four hours, according to the military, dealing “a blow to the Hezbollah terror organization’s ability to produce weapons.”
The missile manufacturing plant was built several years ago with Iranian support, the IDF said.
It was used by Hezbollah to build precision surface-to-surface missiles and other weapons, as well as to store the guided missiles. The IDF said that Iranian operatives also worked at the facility alongside Hezbollah.
Its proximity to Syria allowed Hezbollah to smuggle into Lebanon thousands of components to build the precision missiles, as well as for operatives to travel between Syria and Lebanon, according to the statement.
Another major missile manufacturing site, in Syria, was allegedly raided by Israeli special forces in September.
The raid, in the Masyaf area, was said to have been carried out alongside Israeli airstrikes on military facilities in the area that reportedly killed at least 14 people and wounded 43.
Local Syrian media reported at the time that the strikes hit the area surrounding the Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as CERS or SSRC, which according to Israel is used by Iranian forces to manufacture precision surface-to-surface missiles for Hezbollah.
Various reports in foreign media claimed that Israeli troops operated on the ground during the action at Masyaf, which lies about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Israel, though only about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Syria’s western coastline.
The reports said that commandos of the Israeli Air Force’s Shaldag Unit rappelled down from helicopters and raided CERS. Israeli troops removed equipment and documents and then laid explosives to destroy the facility.
The IDF has not publicly confirmed the details of the operation.
Earlier this week, the Israeli military detailed its operations against Hezbollah’s weapons smuggling unit.
According to the Israeli military, Unit 4400 was established in 2000 and built numerous “strategic routes” along the Syria-Lebanon border with Tehran’s support to deliver weapons from Iran and its proxies to the terror group in Lebanon.
Thousands of trucks and hundreds of planes carrying missiles and other components for Hezbollah have traveled from Iran to Syria, and later to Lebanon, in recent years, the IDF said.
The strikes against Unit 4400 during the war have included the assassinations of the head of the unit, Muhammad Ja’far Qassir, in Beirut in early October, and his replacement, Ali Hassan Gharib, in Damascus, several weeks later, alongside other top commanders.
The IDF said that it has been striking Hezbollah’s smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon “not only in the last few months, but in a years-long effort.”
Reports of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah weapons shipments began to emerge in early 2013, with Israel officially keeping mum to avoid blowback from Damascus and its allies amid the civil war there.
It has increasingly opened up in recent years about the sorties, which have complemented a longstanding aerial campaign aimed at keeping Iran from gaining a foothold near Syria’s border with Israel.
The military official said Wednesday that preventing Hezbollah from rearming itself, after significant damage to its missile, rocket, and drone stockpiles amid the fighting, was “a central issue” that Israel would be focusing on.
The IDF assesses that Hezbollah retains some 20% of its rockets and missiles and some 30% of its drones, which is still thousands of rockets and hundreds of drones.
If Israel does not act, the official said, the IDF may find itself in another war with a rebuilt Hezbollah in several years.
