IDF sends troops North over Hezbollah tensions
The IDF reinforced the Northern Command with additional infantry troops on Thursday as tensions with Hezbollah rose following the death of one of its fighters in Syria.
“In light of a situational assessment that was held in the IDF, it was decided to send a pinpoint reinforcement of infantry troops to the Northern Command,” the IDF said.
The reinforcements, one battalion and a number of additional troops, were deployed to the Galilee Division. The move comes following Hezbollah’s announcement that one of its members was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus on Monday.
The strike targeted several sites around the capital including a major ammunition depot, killing several Iranian and Syrian personnel as well as Hezbollah terrorist Ali Kamel Mohsen.
Following the alleged strikes, Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that Hezbollah had raised its alert level “to monitor activities” of IDF soldiers along the border between the two countries, as well as statements attributed to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that Israel should be wary of an attack.
Last week, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, warned against the group attacking Israel in light of Lebanon’s economic crisis.
“I think it would be a great mistake for Hezbollah to try to carry out operations against Israel. I can’t see that having a good ending,” he said.
While several Hezbollah members have been killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes in Syria over the past year, it was the first time Hezbollah confirmed the death of one of them since August when two terrorists and an Iranian were killed in an IAF strike targeting an Iranian Guards cell that Israel said was on its way to launch armed drones to attack targets in northern Israel.
A week later, Hezbollah fired three anti-tank guided missiles toward an IDF post and military ambulance near the towns of Avivim and Yiron in the North. While there were no casualties, more than 100 artillery shells were fired at targets in southern Lebanon, including an airstrike on the Hezbollah cell that carried out the attack.