Background
In May of 2013 the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, announced the
opening of the Syrian Golan Heights area to popular resistance against Israel
in order to distract from the ongoing civil war.
As a result, elements of the Shi'ite Axis began establishing and entrenching a
terror network in the Syrian Golan Heights area under the command of Samir
Kuntar and Jihad Mughniyeh.
This network, which according to foreign reports was destroyed, was used to
launch a number of attacks on the border (mortars/rockets, bombs, etc).
End of the Syrian Civil War and establishment of the Golan terror network
Hezbollah maintained a presence in Syria in order to assist the Assad Regime
in fighting against the rebels. Now, with the end of the war in sight,
Hezbollah has lost its legitimacy to stay in Syria. Furthermore, the Russians
have a growing interest in securing the stability of the Assad Regime.
The leadership of the Shi'ite Axis has decided to attempt to re-establish a
covert unit, with greater operational capabilities than its predecessors,
which will be able to operate against Israel if ordered.
During the summer of 2018 (June-July) there was a shift in the activities of
Hezbollah in the Golan Heights. Hezbollah began to establish the Golan
terror network despite the severe economic crisis facing the organization.
The establishment of this terror network, is being undertaken with the
assistance of existing Hezbollah infrastructure in Syria as well as the Syrian
Armed Forces (SAF) and the residents of the Syrian Golan Heights.
This network is composed of a chain of command and staff operatives from
Hezbollah and Syrian field operatives. The network is new and is currently
focused on becoming familiarized with the Golan Heights area and is
intended to eventually control teams of Syrian operatives who will launch
attacks against Israel.
Activities of the Golan terror network
Today the Golan terror network is currently focused on familiarizing with the
Syrian Golan Heights area and with intelligence gathering on Israel and the
border area. As part of this effort the leaders of the network are establishing
intelligence gathering capabilities against Israel, with an emphasis on visual
and communications intelligence. The field operatives are conducting
observations toward Israel from observation posts and military locations
near the border. The proximity of these communities to Israel is what allows
the operatives to conduct observations continuously and without revealing
their true goal- to convey information about the regular activities of our
forces to Hezbollah and the leaders of the network.
The intelligence gathering is based partly on existing observation posts that belong to the SAF. These posts are ordinarily manned by soldiers of the SAF
who work alongside operatives of Hezbollah is Syria's "Southern
Headquarters". In parallel they are regularly patrolling the border area in
order to familiarize themselves with the terrain, analyze infiltration routes,
characterize the IDF's routine activity in the area and finding concrete
objectives for action.
As part of their preparations the field operatives have available weaponry
from the internal fighting that was occurring in the area over the past few
years and which ended in July of 2018. It is possible that the leadership of
the network will attempt in the future to transport additional weaponry
from Lebanon or avail themselves of the existing arsenals kept by Hezbollah
and Iran in Syria.
The secrecy of the network
The actions of groups and individuals within the network are
compartmentalized, kept secret from each other and the local population.
This way the networks leadership can act secretly without informing the
Assad Regime and advance several projects simultaneously.
The network's leadership are utilizing all platforms and resources available in
the area to preserve the networks of secrecy. To do this they conceal their
activity as part of known frameworks of the terrorist organization
Hezbollah (such as Hezbollah's Southern Headquarters) and under the SAF
(especially operatives who also belong to the SAF).
Conclusion
In summary, the Hezbollah terrorist organization has begun an attempt to
establish and entrench a covert force in the Syrian Golan Heights that is designed
to act against Israel when given the order. The network is in initial stages of
establishment and recruitment and is not yet operational. The IDF is monitoring
the network's activities closely.