IDF strikes Hezbollah outpost

The IDF struck a Syrian outpost near Quneitra on Thursday, marking the first strike on the northern border by the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The post, 150 meters away from the border, was affiliated with the Syrian Army’s 90th Brigade and First Corps, and had been frequented by Hezbollah officials and used as a reconnaissance post against IDF forces on the Golan Heights. According to Syrian opposition reports, it was destroyed by tank fire.

Two weeks ago, the IDF destroyed another observation post in the same area, built in the demilitarized zone.

On Twitter, Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, said the military “destroyed a forward observation post of the Syrian army that was set up in an Israeli area west of the Alfa line in the Golan Heights.”

Israel, he said, “would not tolerate any attempts to violate our sovereignty.”

At least two other strikes have been blamed on Israel since the beginning of May.

During his tenure as defense minister, Bennett worked to escalate Israeli actions against Iranian forces in Syria aiming to get Tehran to withdraw all of its troops from Israel’s northern borders.

While the IDF does not respond to most foreign reports, it has admitted to carrying out hundreds of airstrikes as part of its “war-between-wars” (known in Hebrew as MABAM) campaign to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the entrenchment of Iranian forces in Syria, where they could easily act against the Jewish state.

Although Israel usually refrains from targeting terror operatives to avoid subsequent retaliation, some strikes ascribed to Israel have killed several Hezbollah operatives in southern Syria on the Golan Heights, where the group has been trying to establish a permanent military presence.