BICOM

The Israeli army said this morning that it had thwarted an attempt by a Hezbollah-affiliated cell to plant explosives along the Israel-Syria border on the Golan Heights.

One media report said an IDF tank fired shells at the suspected cell. An IDF statement confirmed, “Earlier today, two Hezbollah-affiliated terrorists were identified attempting to plant an explosive device near the Israel-Syria border in the northern Golan Heights. IDF (Israeli army) forces … fired towards the suspects (and) hits were identified.”

Last week, Hezbollah threatened it would “choose the time and place” to attack Israel, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli air strike against one of its positions early last week. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the air strike, which some media reports suggest targeted an arms convoy moving ballistic missiles from Syria into Lebanon, while others claimed the target was a Hezbollah missile base. However, Israel has repeatedly warned that any attempt to transfer sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah, particularly missiles and advanced anti-aircraft equipment, would be met with a response.

Towards the end of last week, it was suggested that two rockets fired from Syria which hit Mount Hermon on the Israeli Golan Heights, was not an overspill from fighting in Syria, but an attempted Hezbollah attack. Errant rocket and gunfire from the Syrian conflict has strayed over Israel’s border with some regularity during the past year, on occasion eliciting an Israeli response.

However, this morning’s attempted attack appears to be the first incident in which Hezbollah has sought to use Syria as a staging ground for attacking Israel. Hezbollah, which is largely bankrolled and trained by the Shi’ite Iranian regime, is extremely active in Syria, fighting side by side with troops loyal to Syria’s President Assad, most notably recapturing the crucial town of Qusair last year. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently pledged to continue fighting alongside Assad in Syria.