Tensions remain high on the Golan weeks after Iran flew a drone into Israeli airspace at the beginning of April and after rocket fire from Syria over the Passover holiday. The latest incident involved an Israeli drone crashing in Syria and reports of Israeli artillery fire. The incident was reported in foreign media in Iran.
Although the Iranian report at Tasnim News is short, it illustrates how Iran’s focus on Israel continues to be laser-pointed at the Syrian front. The drone incident in early April was the latest Iran drone threat to Israel. Iran had also flown a drone into Israeli airspace from the T-4 base in February 2018 and had flown a drone from Iraq in May 2021.
Iran has also threatened Israel directly with drones flown from Iran in February 2022. The drones were downed by US Coalition aircraft. Israel also used F-35s to shoot down Iranian drones in early 2021. Iran also used drones to target commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman. The drones were flown from Chabahar.
Tensions remain high with Iran
After the early April incident tensions remained high with Iran. On Passover, terrorists in Lebanon fired 34 rockets at Israel. The next day more rockets were fired by a Palestinian group based in Syria. Then on April 19 reports emerged that an Israeli drone had crashed in Syria.
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire caused after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit near the Israeli town of Shlomi, April 6, 2023 (credit: FLASH90/FADI AMUN)Iranian media reported that Israel fired artillery into Lebanon near Quneitra. The shells landed near a Syrian army position near Quneitra, the report says. Quneitra is an abandoned town on the ceasefire border line between Israel and Syria. The Syrian army returned to this area in 2018.
Online reports from Syria also claimed that leaflets have appeared near the Golan warning about Hezbollah’s presence in the area. Hezbollah has been operating near the Golan for almost a decade, using the Syrian civil war as an excuse to infiltrate the area. Hezbollah has also been involved in drone threats going back to 2019 when Hezbollah operatives tried to launch drones from an area near the Golan. The drone operators were neutralized according to a BBC report at the time.
The tensions on the Golan come amid Iranian claims they are supporting the work of “unseen” hands to move rifles to the West Bank. Iran has also supported other groups to strike at Israel in what Iran calls the “unity of fronts” campaign. The incidents also come as Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister traveled to Syria this week and as the Saudis meet with the Jordanians on Thursday. This shows that despite the Syrian regime trying to return to the Arab League it has not reduced tensions near the Golan or Iranian entrenchment.
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