An unusual strike attributed to Israel on Syrian soil targeted infrastructure set up by Iran aimed at accelerating Hezbollah's armament. To best illustrate this, the targets can be compared to Israeli defense industries producing advanced weapons such as long-range missiles and rockets.
The idea behind establishing the facility in Syria is to shorten the distance between Iran and Lebanon, thus reducing the area where Israel can intercept the weapons along the stretch between Iraq and Syria as it has done several times in the past.
This isn’t the first time Israel has struck Iranian military buildup projects in these areas according to foreign reports. As part of the ongoing “war between the wars” campaign, Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted multiple strikes between 2017 and 2018, with attacks continuing in Syria ever since.
If the reports are accurate, this is the most significant strike on Syrian soil since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Arab media reported three sorties were carried out against five sites belonging to pro-Iranian militias in the rural Hama Governorate. Some reports indicate the strikes caused heavy damage to a "scientific research center," which was hit by several missiles, as well as to another site.
Further, military outposts were also reportedly targeted. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition group, 18 people were killed and dozens were injured in the strikes — an unusually high number of casualties suggesting that the target was considered vital and critical by the attackers.
Previous reports noted the site was producing precision-guided missiles for Hezbollah, weaponry the terror group has been attempting to acquire in recent years. According to these publications, the strikes involved a significant number of fighter jets, indicating an attempt to cripple weapons production. Iran has not officially responded to the strike on the supposed research center.
The Lebanon-Syria border, the "Philadelphi Corridor of the northern front," must be shut off by the end of this war. While there’s no intention of sending Israeli forces there, any cease-fire agreement should include the closing of this route.
If this doesn’t happen, the Israeli Air Force will have to intensify operations to prevent Hezbollah’s rearmament. The targeted strikes carried out in Syria over the years may have somewhat degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities, but nothing beyond that.
Meanwhile, skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel continue. Following Israeli Air Force strikes on its rocket launchers, Hezbollah launched drones at the Western Galilee, hitting a residential building in Nahariya — a city it once avoided targeting.
The incident forced 80,000 residents into safe rooms, causing panic and fear, despite no casualties being reported. Such an event might lead residents, who have shown resilience thus far, to leave the city. As a result, Israel will likely need to respond, although there’s currently no intention to escalate the situation.
Israel had an excellent opportunity to respond to Hezbollah's attack aggressively last month with its preemptive strike, but chose to uphold the status quo, continuing to play into Iran's hands. Tehran is implementing its strategy to wear down Israel over time, prolong the war as much as possible and thereby damage Israel's economy and social resilience.
The "war between the wars" campaign tried to curb Hezbollah's capabilities. While it might have created that impression, it was just a drop in the ocean. Hezbollah has grown stronger as Israeli officials pretended nothing was brewing underground.