The IDF thwarted a sniper attack in the Golan Heights on Monday, striking a vehicle near the Israeli border. “IDF forces identified an attempted sniper attack in the northern Golan Heights and acted to thwart it, striking the vehicle involved in the attempt,” its Spokesperson’s Unit said on a statement. Syria’s state SANA news agency reported that the vehicle struck was a civilian car in the city of Quneitra, while opposition reports said that the car was carrying militiamen loyal to the Assad regime. The thwarted attack came as thousands of Israelis are heading to the polls for the third time. “Even on Election Day, our enemies are trying to hurt us, hurt the citizens of Israel, and disrupt the routine of our lives,” said Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, adding that the IDF will continue to provide security to the citizens of Israel. “Even today, like throughout the year, we will stop our enemies and prevent them from disrupting the routine of our lives.” On Thursday, a man was killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike as he was driving his motorcycle near the village of Hadar in the southern Syrian province of Quneitra. While Syrian regime sources reported that the man was a “civilian,” according to other unconfirmed reports, the man was identified as Emad al-Tawil, a Hezbollah operative active in establishing and entrenching a covert force in the Syrian Golan Heights that is designed to act against Israel when given the order. Senior intelligence officers in the IDF’s Northern Command said that Hezbollah’s Golan Project began last summer following the reconquering of the Syrian Golan by regime troops. The Golan Project has its headquarters in Damascus and the Lebanese capital of Beirut. There are tens of operatives operating in the Syrian towns of Hadar, Quinetra and Erneh who collect intelligence on Israel and military movement on the Israeli Golan Heights. According to the IDF, the Hezbollah militants involved in the clandestine project focus on familiarizing themselves with the Syrian Golan Heights and on gathering intelligence on Israel and the border area. They are also working to establish intelligence gathering capabilities against Israel, operating from civilian observation posts and regime military positions near the border. Operatives involved in the clandestine file have weaponry available from the civil war and, if necessary, will receive additional weaponry from Lebanon or existing arsenals kept by Hezbollah and Iran. The IDF believes that the next war on the northern border will not be limited to one front, but will be along the entire northern border with both Lebanon and Syria. The military also expects that during the next war, Hezbollah will try to bring the fight to the home front by infiltrating Israeli communities to inflict significant civilian and military casualties. In July, Mashour Zidan, a resident of the Druze village of Hader in the Syrian Golan Heights, was killed after an IED planted in his car exploded as he was driving near the Syrian town of Sasa in southern Syria. According to a report in Haaretz, Zidan was responsible for recruiting volunteers from villages near the border with Israel in order to gather intelligence about IDF movements and hide explosive devices, light weapons, machine guns and anti-tank missiles in their homes. Two days before Zidan was assassinated, the Daily Beast published a report in which several Hezbollah commanders said that the majority of deployment has taken place on the Lebanese side of the border, and that the group has also bolstered its forces on the Syrian Golan Heights, bordering Israel. Israel has remained mum on the attacks, but the Jewish state has made it clear that it won’t accept Hezbollah’s growing presence in the Syrian Golan Heights.
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