Seven regional officials and diplomats said that Israel intensified its secret strikes in Syria on weapons sites, supply routes, and leaders linked to Iran, before threatening to launch a large-scale attack on the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Three sources said that an air strike on June 2 killed 18 people, including an advisor to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and was targeting a secret, fortified weapons site near Aleppo.
Four sources also reported that an air strike last May targeted a convoy of trucks heading to Lebanon and carrying missile parts, while another attack led to the killing of Hezbollah members.
For years, Israel has been bombing armed groups allied with Iran in Syria and elsewhere, in limited campaigns that turned into open confrontation after it began its violent war against the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Dozens of assassinations
According to a census conducted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Israel has killed dozens of leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah in Syria since the start of the war on Gaza, while it assassinated only two of them last year before the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The confrontation reached its peak last April when Israel bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In response, Iran fired about 300 missiles and drones at Israel, almost all of which were shot down. Then Israel again attacked Iranian territory with drones.
This direct confrontation stopped at this point, and it is the first of its kind between the two countries.
Céline Uyssal, a French diplomat assigned to the Washington Institute, said that Israel reduced its strikes against groups allied with Iran for a short period, citing the statistics conducted by the Institute of announced attacks in the weeks immediately preceding this confrontation and the weeks that followed.
She added that there was a decline (in strikes) after the confrontation that took place last April, “but they are increasing again due to suspicion of Iran transferring weapons to Lebanon. There are movements in Syria and Lebanon to disrupt the supply chain between Iran and Hezbollah.”
Syrian officials recounted to Reuters details that had not been previously reported regarding the targets of Israeli strikes around the cities of Aleppo and Homs in the past few months, including the attack on June 2.
All those interviewed by the agency – 3 Syrian officials, an Israeli government official, and 3 Western diplomats – said that Israel’s moves indicate that it is preparing for a large-scale war on Hezbollah in Lebanon, which borders Syria, which could begin when Israel eases its military campaign in Gaza.
Targeting leaders
Syria, a long-time ally of Iran, has become the main conduit for weapons supplies from Tehran to Hezbollah after Tehran deployed army personnel and thousands of allied paramilitary forces since around 2013 to aid President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the war.
The three Syrian officials said that some parts of the weapons are smuggled into Syria, while other parts are assembled there.
The Syrian officials and the Israeli official stated that the Israeli campaign in Syria aims to ensure that Hezbollah, Iran’s most loyal ally and the main pillar of Tehran’s efforts to flex its muscles in the region through the network of armed groups allied with it, is as weak as possible before any kind of fighting begins.
Syrian officials pointed out that the killing of Saeed Abyar, who was identified by Iranian official media as an advisor to the Revolutionary Guards, on June 2 demonstrated the extent of Israel’s ability to eliminate senior leaders and target equipment, even as Iran experiments with new methods to protect weapons and weapon parts directed to… Hezbollah, including moving weapons manufacturing to hidden or more heavily fortified locations.
Syrian officials said that Abyar was visiting a Hezbollah missile production factory inside a quarry east of the city of Aleppo when he was targeted. One of the officials, an intelligence officer, said, “The facility is located in an area that was chosen because it is difficult to access and difficult to strike.”
Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack that killed Abyar, and the Revolutionary Guard commander pledged to respond. The officials said that the strike killed 17 others, including members of groups allied with Iran, and that this was the first targeting of a Revolutionary Guard commander since Israel bombed the Iranian consulate.
Weapons and warehouses
But this is not the only attack it has carried out since then. The Syrian intelligence officer said that an air strike near the Syrian city of Homs on May 29 targeted a vehicle carrying parts for guided missiles that was on the way from Syria to Lebanon, noting that another strike on May 20 targeted members of Hezbollah.
He added that before the attack on the Iranian consulate, a series of air strikes in late March across Aleppo hit warehouses storing highly explosive materials for missile warheads.
A Syrian military official said that other attacks targeted Syrian air defense systems that in the past few years have given Hezbollah and members of the Iranian army some safety during their movements, including Russian-made “Pantsir” air defense systems and mobile missile launchers used by the Syrian army. The official said other strikes targeted early warning radar systems.
The official added that in some cases Israel carried out strikes even before the equipment was installed.
The Israeli government official said that what Israel targeted were advanced anti-aircraft weapons, heavy missiles, and precise missile guidance systems.
Will Israel tip the scales?
The number of Israeli attacks in Syria jumped significantly after October 7th.
Uysal of the Washington Institute said that Israel carried out 50 air strikes in Syria during the six months following the launch of the war on Gaza, “and these included attacks on the airports of Aleppo, Nayrab Military, Damascus, and Mezzeh Military, which are major points for transporting weapons. Weapons depots were also among the targets.”
“It is certain that attacks in Syria halt the delivery of weapons and ammunition, and harm the ability of Hezbollah or Iran to act,” said Lior Ackerman of Reichman University, a former official in the Israeli internal security service (Shin Bet).
On the other hand, Hezbollah official Nawaf al-Musawi said last March that the group continues to “open new warehouses (for weapons and ammunition), fill the warehouses, bring new missiles, more accurate missiles, and a new type of weapons at sea, on land, and in the air. All of this is underway.” “In full swing.”
Commenting on these attacks in Syria, Farzan Thabet, a senior researcher at the Geneva Institute for Graduate Studies and a specialist in Iranian foreign policy, said that Israel was affected by the attacks on it from Hezbollah and Iran’s allies in Iraq and Yemen during the war on Gaza, “but it killed a greater number of Hezbollah members.” Among the important figures, including members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria, it is therefore a greater loss for Iran’s allies.”
