Two Israeli soldiers killed, 7 injured by Hezbollah fire from Mt. Dov on unarmored IDF command vehicle - http://www.debka.com/article/24365/Two-Israeli-soldiers-killed-7-injured-by-Hizballah-fire-from-Mt-Dov-on-unarmed-IDF-command-vehicle-The-IDF-hit-back
The IDF spokesman disclosed that an officer and a soldier were killed and 7 injured in coordinated Hezbollah rocket and mortar attacks from Mt. Dov (Shabaa Farms) on an Israeli command patrol vehicle near the border Wednesday, Jan. 28. debkafile: The vehicle was not armored.
Israel deployed artillery and aircraft to hit back at Hezbollah and allied targets in South Lebanon and a broad military clash ensued lasting more than 90 minutes. The Iranian proxy claimed the attack as retaliation for the Jan. 18 attack which killed 6 of its fighters and an Iranian general.
A broad military clash between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel erupted on Israel's northern borders. Residents of Metula and other border locations were ordered to stay indoors and keep their doors and windows shut; tourists warned to stay out of the region and road traffic halted. Israeli massed military strength in border areas after moving figures on the Lebanese side were feared preparing to cross the border for terrorist attacks on abductions under cover of fire.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on his way to an urgent, top-level security conference warned: "My advice is not to test us!" debkafile: Israel is determined to ward off any Iranian and Hezbollah plans for a war of attrition..
Mt. Dov (Shabaa Farms) is a small mountainous strip of land disputed between Israel and Hizballah at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli borders nx adjacent to the Golan in the north. It is about 11km long and 2.5 km wide.
debkafile reported Wednesday morning:
Expanding its responses to missile fire from the Syrian Golan, Israeli fighter jets went into action Tuesday night, Jan. 27, as warning sirens blared for a second rocket attack in the northern Golan villages of Odem, Al-Rom. Buq'ata, Majd el-Shams, Masaada. Neve Ativ, Nimrod and Ain Kanya. The search for rocket fragments began at first light Wednesday and continues.
Israeli jets targeted the Syrian artillery position in the Quneitra region, shelled by Israel Tuesday afternoon after a four-rocket volley was directed at northern Golan and the adjoining Hermon ski resort without causing casualties. This Quneitra position is manned by the Syrian army's 90th Brigade with the Syrian Popular Army militiamen deployed nearby. That militia is under construction by Iran as a Syrian facsimile of its Revolutionary Guards.
debkafile's military sources report that Israel was standing by for a repeat of the first rocket attack by pro-Iranian elements on the Golan, including Hezbollah - especially after the dire warnings of retaliation issued earlier Tuesday by Tehran - and so the Israeli air force was ready to react fast. The way is now open for both sides to escalate - or draw back.
debkafile reported earlier that Tehran had Tuesday adopted two synchronous courses for getting back at Israel for the Jan. 18 air strike near Quneitra which killed an Iranian general and six Hezbollah officers: Iraqi Shiite militiamen posted on the Syrian Golan along with Hezbollah fighters sent four rockets winging towards Mt. Hermon while some 1,600 people were skiing on its slopes: Two landed and exploded on the Israel side of the demarcation line - one near the skiers and the other outside Kibbutz Merom Hagolan. None caused casualties or damage.
Israeli forces stationed along the Syrian and Lebanese borders went on top readiness, a level still in force. Overhead, Israeli planes and other aerial vehicles were on 24-hour patrol.
In Tehran, two high Iranian officials Tuesday warned Israel to await retaliation.
Dep. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said: "We told the Americans that the leaders of the Zionist regime should await the consequences of their act," adding, "Israel crossed our red lines."
He spoke at a commemoration ceremony for the Iranian general Mohammad Ali Allah Dadi who was slain on the Syrian Golan a week ago.
In this warning, the Iranian official introduced two new features: Tehran has never before set red lines for Israeli military action; neither have the Iranians ever admitted to relaying a warning to Israel through Washington - at least not in public.
The Islamic Republic was saying in effect that it is not only acting in concert with the Obama administration over a nuclear accord, but the two powers will also be aligned against any potential Israel military action against Iran that is intended to upset the nuclear accord unfolding between Washington and Tehran.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to comment on "private diplomatic contacts with Iran" beyond saying that no threat was delivered to Israel in the latest round of nuclear talks.
"We absolutely condemn any such threats that come in any form," Psaki told reporters.
Then, Tuesday night, The Revolutionary Guards' acting commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, vowed that Iran would "retaliate soon."
debkafile's military sources do not rule out Iranian and Iraqi Shiite militias posted to Syria, together with Hezbollah, possibly escalating attacks on Israel from the Syrian Golan in the days to come. Such attacks are unlikely at this stage to form a continuous campaign but would rather be sporadic, their purpose being to maintain a high level of military tension and keep Israel on constant alert and on edge.
On the diplomatic front, Tehran will continue the effort disclosed Tuesday to drag the US and the Obama administration into involvement in the ongoing crisis, to make sure Israel's hands are tied against major responses to its harassments.
So Jen Psaki had every reason to express great concern about the future of the ceasefire along Israel's borders with Syria.
Is Hezbollah trying to draw Israel into a ground offensive? - By Avi Issacharoff - http://www.timesofisrael.com/is-hezbollah-trying-to-draw-israel-into-a-ground-offensive/
The Lebanese group stands to gain from inflicting Israeli casualties while portraying Syrian rebels as IDF collaborators
It may be too soon to point to a new, cohesive Hezbollah strategy along Israel's northern border. And yet, repeated rocket fire at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights Tuesday prompts speculation that the Shiite terror group and its ally, the Syrian regime, are seeking to draw Israel into a ground offensive.
In the aftermath of the killing of Hezbollah commander Jihad Mughniyeh and Iranian general Mohammad Ali Allahdadi (along with 10 others) in an alleged Israeli airstrike on January 18, prevailing wisdom was that Hezbollah, bent on revenge, would try to launch a major campaign against Israel, if not along the border than by attacking Jewish targets abroad.
But it may well be that the Lebanese organization is initiating a different campaign, one that would be somewhat surprising, although it would not necessarily preclude hits on Israeli targets or Jewish targets outside Israel: the repeated shelling of Israeli communities from the Syrian Golan Heights with the aim of drawing in Israeli ground forces.
Indeed, although it seems counterintuitive, there may be some in Hezbollah who hope to see Israeli tanks entering Syrian territory and hitting Syrian military targets.
The shelling has so far succeeded in only slightly disrupting routine life in the Golan Heights and closing the Hermon ski resort for several hours. But one can assume that if Hezbollah was indeed behind the attacks, as some in Israel claim, it won't be the last such strike by the terror group's contingent in the Syrian Golan.
The next stage, as far as Hezbollah is concerned, could be to try to further upset the security situation by firing rockets sporadically into the Israeli Golan Heights, in a manner that may force the IDF to send troops deep into Syrian territory.
This would make it easier for Hezbollah to exact Israeli casualties and at the same time focus Arab public opinion on the battles in the Golan Heights, distracting it from the daily acts of carnage perpetrated by Assad loyalists.
Furthermore, if Hezbollah manages to draw Israel into committing even a small number of troops to a ground incursion in the Syrian Golan Heights, the Sunni radical groups Islamic State and al Nusra Front will be in the problematic position of being portrayed as collaborators with Israel in its battle against the Assad regime and its Lebanese ally.
The rockets fired at the Golan Heights constitute a serious challenge for Israel. On the one hand Jerusalem seeks to deter Hezbollah from continuing to disrupt life in the north. On the other, too aggressive a response will prompt Hezbollah to escalate its attacks in a manner that may leave Israel no choice but to deploy ground troops, furthering the goals of Assad and the rest of the Shiite axis.
Is ISIL Next Target Israel? - Dr. Steve Elwart - http://www.khouse.org/enews_article/2015/2350/print/
Recently the media and the U.S. Government chooses to call the Islamic Jihadists in Syria IS for Islamic State. Others call it ISIS. The group itself goes by ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of the Levant. Their goal? To reestablish the caliphate of the Levant. What many do not know is that Israel is part of the Levant. (The Levant is made up of the countries of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and part of Southern Turkey.)
It seems as if ISIS has reached a comfortable position in Syria. ISIS and the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, are still the dominant rebel groups in that country and the Western-backed Free Syrian Army is still able to stand on its own as a fighting force.
With their base seemingly secure, there are indications that ISIS is now setting their sights on continuing their conquest of the Levant by moving on Israel.
There are indications that ISIS has recruited three rebel groups operating in the south of Syria in an area bordering the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. These groups have switched their loyalties from other radical groups to ISIS. Two of the groups are small in number, but the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade has hundreds of fighters. The Yarmouk Brigades has been at odds with al-Nusra Front and switched now to join what leaders of all three groups believe is the future of Islam.
This means that Israel is now threatened by the Egyptian ISIS group of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis in Sinai in the southwest and by these three ISIS groups in southern Syria. These three Syrian groups that have just joined ISIS could make that situation even worse.
"If Israel was attacked by ISIS, America would expect a proportionate response by Israel, which is militarily capable of defending itself," said Geoffrey Levin, a professor at New York University. "America would counsel against sustained Israeli involvement because it could threaten the tacit alliance between America, Iran, Turkey, and several Arab states against ISIS."
ISIS has been known for launching surprise attacks and opening new battlefronts when it seems to be losing. ISIS also has been criticized by many Arabs and Muslims for not taking its fight to Israel and instead fighting fellow Arabs and Muslims. An attack aimed at Israel may boost ISIS's popularity in the Arab world and refresh its recruitment and funding efforts.
ISIS may feel that they are in a good position now to make such an attack. Some of ISIS's top military commanders were former officers in Saddam Hussein's army and have the tactical expertise to launch an attack in Israel. They may do this by following an well known strategy. They may resort to what Saddam Huessen did in the 1991 Gulf War when he attacked Israel with mid-range rockets, hoping to drag the Israelis into a conflict.
An Israeli retaliation in 1991 could have jeopardized the U.S-led coalition that then included Arab countries like Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia. The same is true now. However, Israel will probably not be as compliant as they were 20-plus years ago. With U.S. - Israeli relations at a low, Israel may choose an alternate, to some, radical way-to go their own way and let the United States sort out their own problems.
In any case, Attacks on Israel by ISIS or affiliated groups could further escalate the war in the region, or they could strain ties between the United States and the Israel to the breaking point.
Israel could launch a preemptive attack to destroy or significantly damage these ISIS-affiliated units whether by air or by ground forces. Israel used its advanced air force to launch attacks in Syria several times since the beginning of Syrian civil war in 2011.
In anticipation of an attack, Israel has recently boosted its defenses in the Golan Heights, saying its main concern was to prevent any major weapons transfer from Syria to Hezbollah, the jihadist group born from Israel's move against Lebanon 1980s.
A conflict between Israel and ISIS Jihadists in the Golan would turn a Israeli-Palestinian fight into a Jewish-Muslim war.
A national war would become a religious one.
Netanyahu after rocket fire from Syria: Those who play with fire get burned - http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Netanyahu-after-rocket-fire-from-Syria-Those-who-play-with-fire-get-burned-389155
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the firing of two rockets from Syria into the Golan Heights on Tuesday, saying that whoever tries to challenge Israel on its borders "will find out that we are ready to react with force."
"Israel regards with severity the attack today from Syrian territory. Those who play with fire get burned," the prime minister said.
A senior security source said Hezbollah was behind Tuesday's rocket attacks.
The source added that the IDF continues to be in high preparation mode for potential further events. "Syria is responsible for what happens on Syrian territory," the source said. "We will see how further events unfold."
A second source added that there are no planned school cancellations or special security instructions for residents of the North at this time. The source said the Home Front Command would notify civilians if changes occur.
The Hermon ski site, which was closed following the attack was scheduled to remain shut.
The IDF returned artillery fire toward the source of the projectiles after they were fired. The army said that it scored a direct strike against the source of enemy fire.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack.
Rocket alert sirens were sounded in the area prior to the attack. The rockets fell in the Mount Hermon area and in Merom Golan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but it comes just nine days after a strike on a Hezbollah convoy in Syria which has been widely attributed to Israel.
Six Hezbollah operatives were killed in the strike, along with six Iranians, including a high-ranking Revolutionary Guards general. Among the Hezbollah operatives killed in the strike was Jihad Mougniyeh, the son of Hezbollah's former military leader, Imad Moughniyeh.
Iran and Hezbollah have both vowed to retaliate for the strike.
Since the alleged Israeli air strike, the IDF has increased its presence in northern communities as part of a measure to boost defenses around civilian areas ahead of a potential Hezbollah attack. Local residents have seen an upsurge in military traffic in their areas.
Israel also deployed several Iron Dome rocket defense batteries to the North last week, however they were not activated in Tuesday's projectile attacks.
Tense Israeli-Hezbollah shadow war stops short of skirmishes - Overnight mystery blast - http://www.debka.com/article/24361/Tense-Israeli-Hizballah-shadow-war-stops-short-of-skirmishes-Overnight-mystery-blast
The Israeli-Lebanese border build-up may be moving from high tension to a violent eruption as ominous events proliferate. A mysterious explosion was one of the events occurring Sunday, Jan. 25, along with rapid Israeli and Hezbollah military movements, troop buildups on both sides of the border, bulwarks trucked in to protect Israeli locations, an Israel warning to Hezbollah not to harm Israel's overseas institutions, and persistent rumors of secret Hezbollah tunnels.
Israel and Iran's Lebanese surrogate the Shiite Hezbollah are both evidently moving up to the brink in their efforts to sound out their opponents' intentions following vows of revenge for the air strike which killed a dozen Hezbollah and Iranian officers on the Golan on Jan. 18.
In the last 24 hours, the 900-meters tall Ramim Ridge was the focus of military movements. The IDF sits on the eastern slope of this ridge, commanding the path of entry into Lebanon; while Hezbollah holds most of the western slope, which overlooks the Kadesh Valley (site of an epic Biblical battle) in the Upper Galilee and its border roads and villages, including Avivim, Margaliot, Yiftach, Ramot Nafghtali, Malkia and Yiron.
Hezbollah has fortified houses in South Lebanese villages within range, especially A-Taibeh, where it has established command positions, whereas Sunday, the IDF sent huge trucks, normally used for hauling tanks, to transport concrete ramparts, such as have not been seen in this area for years.
The IDF placed these bulwarks 250 meters apart to protect moving traffic and troops against potential fire from across the border.
debkafile's military sources believe that IDF has taken this precaution to avert a repetition of the attack five years ago, when Lebanese army snipers serving Hizballah opened fire on an IDF command group inspecting the border. Lt. Col, Dov Harari, aged 45, from Netanya was killed and Capt. (res) Ezra Lakiya, 30 from Kfar Harif seriously injured.
This sort of operation may go partly towards satisfying Hezbollah thirst for revenge for Israel's Golan attack.
From Hezbollah-held territory, a large explosion was heard Sunday night. Its cause has not been clarified. It may tie in with the persistent rumors spreading through this tense region that this and other explosions are related to the discovery and destruction of terror tunnels which Hezbollah is reputedly digging for furtive incursions into Israel.
Sunday, a short video clip on the Internet showed a Shetula housewife listening to voices coming out of her kitchen sink from below.
For now, there is no confirmation that the Hezbollah tunnels scaring the border population are real.
Sunday night, an alert was declared on the roads leading to the Ramim ridge from Metullah, after dark figures were spotted approaching the border from Lebanon. It was lifted after a short time and the roads reopened to regular traffic.
Also Sunday, Hezbollah for the first time detached fighting units from battles in support of the Syrian army and sent them to the Israeli border as reinforcements.
All in all, both sides are piling up strength in an ever higher buildup. As increasing numbers of heavily armed troops glare at each other across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier, an incendiary standoff is evolving that can't be sustained much longer without being withdrawn, or tipping over into some sort of clash.
Iran seeking to open front against Israel on Golan Heights - http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Yaalon-Iran-seeking-to-open-front-against-Israel-on-Golan-Heights-389019
Iran is seeking to open a new front against Israel from the Syrian Golan Heights, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday, during a visit to the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to mark Space Week. He spoke a little over one week after an air strike, attributed by international media reports to Israel, struck and killed 12 Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah operatives in Quneitra, Syria, near the Israeli border.
Ya'alon appeared to link Sunday's air strike to Iran's activities in Syria.
Visiting the defense company's Missile and Satellites plant in Yehud together with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Ya'alon said IAI allows us to be "one of the few countries who are members of the limited club of states that have satellites in space, both for security and civilian needs."
"One can understand, in light of the challenges we face today, the importance of our space capability, when we talk about long-range threats, and particularly, as we see, Iran, which is continuing to be a source of Middle East instability. The Islamic State is a phenomenon that has to be dealt with, and what we are seeing in the past thirty years is that Iran is turning into a source of instability in the Middle East."
"This is true in regards to the need to prevent Iran from having a military nuclear capability, and it's true regarding the need to prevent it from attacking us, whether from Lebanon with Hezbollah, or from Gaza, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and whether it's what we saw last Sunday - an Iranian arm that is beginning to develop, to open a front against us on the Golan Heights.
Iran's tentacles also reach into Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and other places. Hence, the place we are in now is so important in terms of our ability in space to deal with these distant challenges.
The targets of Sunday's strike included Jihad Mughniyeh, son of the late Hezbollah terrorist operations commander, senior Hezbollah member Muhammad Issa, and IRGC Gen. Muhammad Ali Allahdadi. According to Western intelligence sources, the operatives were in the middle of planning a series of rocket attacks, bombings, antitank missile strikes and infiltrations against Israel.
"We must be prepared for any attempt to challenge us in light of calls heard on the other side," Ya'alon said, referring to calls in Iran to attack Israel. "We must continue to keep calm and be patient, and know how to respond in the most suitable manner, which will clarify to all who try to harm us that we will not tolerate provocations from any area."
Palestinians Seek Kangaroo Court for Israel - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
In what can only properly be called their latest stunt against Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) made known their plans to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). This move is part of a strategy to try to use a legal argument against Israel. Having lost on the battlefield, these enemies of the Jewish state think they will have better luck in court.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no plans to play along with this game. He told his Cabinet, "The Palestinian Authority has chosen confrontation with Israel and we will not sit idly by." He said Israel would never allow its soldiers to be "hauled" before an international tribunal.
I don't think we need a legal setting to prove that the Palestinians are the real aggressors. Last summer's Gaza War began with the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers. The firing of rockets into Israel by Palestinians led to the ground fighting. Let's not forget the millions of dollars in international aid money that was wasted on digging terror tunnels. The conflict only ended when Hamas realized it was suffering much heavier losses than Israel.
There is already a ridiculous amount of meddling into Israel's internal affairs. I don't know of any other nation on earth that has the global community second guessing and interfering in its building decisions. This past summer, the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO designated the Palestinian village of Battir, a World Heritage site-just to block a plan to extend the West Bank separation barrier through some farming terraces.
The most central problem with the PA becoming part of the International Criminal Court is that it would be like the town drunk and prostitute joining a committee on morality. The Palestinians have no right to stand in judgment of Israel. They were a band of terrorists from the beginning, and despite being recognized by governments around the world, they remain a lawless people that don't even deserve to be given nation status.
It is rarely ever published what human rights are like under PA rule. To find this information, you normally have to turn to Jewish sources. B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization that documents human rights violations on both sides of the conflict. It reports from September 29, 2000 to March 31, 2012 there were 669 Palestinians killed by other Palestinians. It's common knowledge that speaking out against the PA is signing your own death warrant.
The Western media has a mindset that puts a bubble of isolation around the Palestinian controlled areas. When 30 people last year in Gaza protested the lack food in stores, their summary execution by local Islamic thugs meant nothing to the press (because that is just what happens in the Palestinian zone).
Despite the overwhelming anti-Israel propaganda, the average Palestinians know they would be better off as citizens of Israel. A recent poll finds that 70% of Palestinians prefer to live under Israeli rule, as opposed to Palestinian rule. And nearly half of the Palestinians said that if their East Jerusalem neighborhood would become part of a Palestinian state, they'd relocate to another neighborhood to remain part of Israel.
The abundance of freedom and civil liberties in Israel has fostered no love for the Jews by the average Palestinian. A majority of them still support killing and suicide terror against Israelis. Several polls show that over 80% of Palestinians support all acts of mass murder against Jews.
In a sane world, there would be no way for the PA to gain the right to join the ICC. If any side has a right to be the victim of war crimes, it would Israel. What the Palestinians mistake as unfair treatment is the result of their own outrageous behavior.
Unfortunately, the forces seeking to turn Israel into a pariah state are slowly winning out. It doesn't matter how much truth is on Israel's side. The lie is becoming the new truth by way of repetition.
Any Google search will find that an enormous amount of energy has been spent to paint Israel with a negative narrative. The devil and his horde of fallen angels are setting the stage for the great end-time persecution that comes against the Jewish people. The fact that we've reached this level of anti-Israel madness tells us that the Tribulation hour is very near.
"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zechariah 12:3).
Iran vows to attack Israel from West Bank - http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-vows-to-attack-israel-from-west-bank/
Deputy head of Revolutionary Guards says Tehran to 'open new fronts' in response to strike that killed Iranian general
Iran has threatened to attack Israel from the West Bank, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria on Sunday that left 12 Iranian and Hezbollah operatives dead. The airstrike has been attributed to Israel and though Jerusalem has not officially confirmed it, anonymous government sources have admitted as much.
Deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Lt.-Gen. Hossein Salami vowed Saturday to "open new fronts [against Israel] and change the balance of power." In an excerpt of an interview with Salami, the IRGC's number two said that Iran and Hezbollah would provide a "special reprisal" to the strike, according to the Tasnim News Agency, adding that opening a new front in the West Bank was in the works.
"Opening up a new front across the West Bank, which is a major section of our dear Palestine, will be certainly on the agenda, and this is part of a new reality that will gradually emerge," Salami said in the inteview with Iran's Arabic-language news channel al-Alam.
Iran and Hezbollah have issued a series of threats since the strike earlier this week, warning of a "crushing response," and "destructive thunderbolts." The dead included an Iranian general and senior Hezbollah commanders, Muhammad Issa and Jihad Mughniyeh, son of slain terror mastermind Imad Mughniyeh.
There have been conflicting reports as to whether Israel knew that Iranian general Mohammed Allahdadi was in the convoy.
On Friday, Channel 10 reported that Israel had sent calming messages to Iran and Hezbollah via Moscow after the strike, clarifying that it was uninterested in an escalating conflict with Tehran or the Lebanese terror group.
According to the report, Israeli officials told Moscow that Israel viewed the strike as an act of self-defense, and that Hezbollah had forced Israel's hand by building an offensive infrastructure on its border. Jerusalem stressed it did not want the situation to deteriorate into a regional conflict. Russian leaders conveyed this message to Beirut and Tehran.
A report on Channel 2 Friday said the strike targeted the leaders of a substantial new Hezbollah terror hierarchy that was set to attempt kidnappings, rocket attacks and other assaults on military and civilian targets in northern Israel.
The new terror unit involved Mughniyeh, who was coordinating with the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Qasem Soleimani, the Channel 2 report said. There was no suggestion in the report that Soleimani, a key figure in supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah, was in the area at the time.
The terrorist hierarchy included recruitment and intelligence departments, and was set to begin operations targeting Israel from the Syrian Golan, including "kidnappings, firing rockets and mortar shells, and using anti-tank weapons against Israeli residential areas."
The unit was set up "with Iranian sponsorship," the report said. Israel's targeting of some of its members underlined that "a red line was crossed that Israel would not tolerate."
The TV report said Israel was braced for a response. If that response targeted Israeli civilians, however, subsequent Israeli retaliation would endanger the Assad regime in Syria, Channel 2's military commentator Roni Daniel said. He did not state a source for that assertion.
Israel prepared for 'any scenario' after attack on Hezbollah - Aaron Klein - http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/israel-prepared-for-any-scenario-after-attack-on-hezbollah/?cat_orig=world
Army chief warns Jewish state will respond with 'required intensity'
Anticipating a possible counter-attack from Hezbollah, Israel is prepared for "any scenario" and will operate with "determination and the required intensity" along the northern border with Syria and Lebanon, declared Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benjamin Gantz.
Gantz on Friday paid a morning visit to the IDF Northern Command, where he told reporters "the IDF is keeping a close eye on recent developments in the northern region."
"IDF forces are alert and prepared to respond if needed. ... The IDF is prepared for any scenario, and will on the one hand, exercise proper discretion, and on the other, operate with determination and the required intensity."
Gantz was speaking after an Israeli official took the unusual step of recognizing his country was behind last Sunday's strike on a Hezbollah convoy near the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.
The attack killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammed Allahdadi as well as a Hezbollah commander and the son of the group's late military leader, Imad Muughniyeh. Hezbollah said six of its members died in the strike.
Reuters on Tuesday quoted a senior Israeli security source stating Allahdadi was not the intended target and that Israel believed it was attacking only low-ranking Hezbollah members who were about to carry out an attack on the border.
Asked if Israel expected Iranian or Hezbollah retaliation, the source told Reuters: "They're almost certain to respond. We're anticipating that, but I think it's a fair assumption that a major escalation is not in the interest of either side."
Indeed, Iran wasted no time before threatening to hit back. The Revolutionary Guard chief, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, was quoted Tuesday telling the state-run Fars news agency: "These martyrdoms proved the need to stick with jihad. The Zionists must await devastating thunderbolts."
Earlier this week, WND reported that in response to the killing, Israel believes Hezbollah will carry out a major terrorist attack in Israel or against Jewish or Israeli targets abroad, Middle Eastern defense officials stated.
The Middle Eastern defense officials also said Israel believes Hezbollah might try to assassinate an Israeli politician or public figure.
The defense officials said Israel views as unlikely the prospect of Hezbollah responding to Sunday's attack by launching rockets or missiles into the Jewish state. They assess that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah is not interested in risking a larger confrontation with Israel. Hezbollah has been bogged down attempting to quell the insurgency targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Still, there is information indicating Hezbollah in recent weeks managed to transport missiles and drones into the Golan Heights. Drones equipped with explosives could infiltrate Israeli territory and carry out a large-scale attack.
According to the Mideast defense officials speaking to WND, Hezbollah and Iran have been planning an imminent counter-insurgency against rebel-held positions inside and near the Syrian sections of the Golan Heights aimed at taking the strategic border territory.
Israel fears the establishment of Hezbollah positions in the Golan Heights could be used in the future as bases to storm into Jewish communities on the Israel side of the border.
Unmentioned in scores of news reports covering the Israeli strikes is that last Thursday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave a three-hour interview in which he threatened to dispatch commando teams to overrun Israeli communities in the Galilee region adjacent to the Golan Heights.
Speaking to the Lebanese Al Mayadeen network, Nasrallah warned that Hezbollah "is ready and prepared for a confrontation in the Galilee and beyond the Galilee."
According to sources in the Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli military waited until the Hezbollah convoy was about four miles from the Israel-Syria border before dispatching Hellfire missiles for the attack.
Nasrallah confirms Hezbollah, Iran bolstering presence along Golan border - http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Nasrallah-confirms-Hezbollah-Iran-bolstering-presence-along-Golan-border-389523
Hezbollah on Friday confirmed Israeli suspicions that it was establishing a greater military presence near the Syrian-Israeli frontier on the Golan Heights.
The Shi'ite group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a televised address in Lebanon in which he extolled the "fusion of Lebanese-Iranian blood on Syrian territory."
The speech commemorated the deaths of six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general killed by an Israeli air strike in Syria on Jan. 18. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah retaliated on Wednesday with a rocket attack that killed two Israeli soldiers on the frontier with Lebanon.
Nasrallah's remarks reaffirmed the Hezbollah-Iranian effort to solidify another front in the struggle against its nemesis, Israel.
The Hezbollah secretary-general's remarks were reported by the Beirut-based English language newspaper The Daily Star.
The Israel-Lebanon frontier, where two Israeli soldiers and a Spanish peacekeeper were killed in an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, appeared quiet on Friday.
The Israeli soldiers were killed when Hezbollah fired five missiles at a convoy of Israeli military vehicles. The attack appeared to be in retaliation for a January 18 Israeli air strike in southern Syria that killed several Hezbollah members and an Iranian general.
The peacekeeper in southern Lebanon was killed as Israel responded with air strikes and artillery fire, a UN spokesman and Spanish officials said.
Nasrallah said that the Hezbollah attack on Mt. Dov was a tit-for-tat response to the attack on the convoy earlier this month.
"They killed us in broad daylight, we kill them in broad daylight," he said. "They hit two of our vehicles, we hit two of their vehicles."
The Hezbollah chief lambasted what he called the Israeli leadership's "foolishness" for putting their country at risk with the attack on the Hezbollah-Iranian convoy.
Israel had "planned, calculated and took a premeditated decision to assassinate" the Hezbollah and Iranian officers, though he denied Israeli claims that those targeted, among them Jihad Mughniyeh, were planning an attack on Israel.
The leader of Hezbollah said his group did not want war with Israel but was ready for one and had the right to respond to Israeli "aggression" in any time and place.
"We do not want a war but we are not afraid of it and we must distinguish between the two and the Israelis must also understand this very well," he said.
He said the group had been ready for all possibilities ahead of the retaliatory attack, one of the most serious clashes since the two sides fought a war in 2006. They have appeared to back away from further escalation since the incident.
Addressing a hall full of supporters via video link, Nasrallah said his group no longer had rules of engagement in the conflict with Israel and would hold it responsible for the assassination of any Hezbollah leaders or fighters.
"We have the right to respond in any place and at any time and in the way we see as appropriate," Nasrallah said in the speech, which was broadcast live on Arabic news channels and greeted by heavy celebratory gunfire in Beirut.
Attendees included visiting Iranian official Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee. He was shown with tears in his eyes as Nasrallah spoke about the men killed in the Jan. 18 Israeli helicopter attack in the Syrian Golan Heights.
Nasrallah called the attack "an assassination crime".
The Iranian general killed, Mohammad Allahdadi, had been a senior figure in Tehran's military effort to support the Syrian government in its battle against insurgents trying to topple President Bashar Assad.
One of the top figures in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, visited the grave of Jihad Mughniyeh this month, a Lebanese source said.
A picture of Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, praying at Mughniyeh's grave was broadcast by Lebanese television channel Al-Mayadeen. Soleimani had become a father-figure to Jihad Mughniyeh after his father's death, the source said. Soleimani also met Nasrallah during his short visit to Beirut.
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