TEL AVIV — Syria has ordered Hizbullah to launch a
major attack along the Israeli border, according to communications intercepts.
Israeli intelligence sources said they have monitored evidence of
communications between Syria and Hizbullah that suggests the Iranian-backed
Shi'ite movement has been directed to carry out a strike on Israeli positions
along the border with Lebanon. The sources said the Hizbullah targets could be
either civilian or military.
The Syrian directive was meant to respond to Israeli air attacks on Syria
over the last month. In October, Israel F-16 multi-role fighters struck the Ein
Saheb insurgency training camp near Damascus and caused heavy damage. "Assad doesn't have an army for a conventional strike on Israel," an
intelligence source said. "That is where Hizbullah comes in. Hizbullah can hurt
Israel and provide Syria with the element of denial."
Israel has relayed an alert to forces in the Golan Heights and along the
border with Lebanon. This has resulted in increased flights by unmanned air
vehicles along the Lebanese border.
But the sources said Syrian forces along the northern Golan Heights did not
appear to be preparing for anything other than routine winter deployment.
The sources said Syria regards Hizbullah as the leading Syrian-backed
insurgency group as well as a military asset against Israel. For the last three
months, the Assad regime has ordered Palestinian insurgency groups to maintain a
low profile and refrain from issuing announcements from Damascus. But over the
last two weeks Hamas was allowed to issue statements from the Syrian capital.
"We see that the terrorist activities continue to be directed by Syria and
from Syrian territory," Maj. Gen. Benny Ganz, head of Northern Command, said.
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