As YWN reported earlier this week, the IDF is concerned about the danger facing Israel on its eastern border and fears that Hezbollah’s attacks from the north are intended to distract from the real attack that will come from the east.

Yisrael Hayom reported that due to this concern, the IDF has made fundamental changes in its operational deployment on Israel’s border with Jordan. The report quotes a military source as saying that the baseline scenario the IDF is preparing for is an attempt by Hezbollah or another pro-Iran militia to cross the Jordanian border and infiltrate an Israeli community, chalilah.

The Jordanian border, which is 309 km (190 miles) long, is the longest Israel shares with its neighbors. The border has become particularly problematic in the past two years, with a sharp increase in arms smuggling attempts from Jordan to Palestinians in the Shomron. The IDF believes that Iran is behind the shipments, with at least one shipment including weapons manufactured in the Islamic Republic.

Over 1,000 types of weapons have been intercepted along the border and the IDF is aware that it only foils some of the smuggling attempts. The vast amount of weapons smuggled over the border partially explains the rise in terror attacks and the large amount of weapons found in Yehudah and Shomron in the past two years.

Additionally, in recent months, Iranian-backed forces have been attempting to infiltrate Jordan from Iraq and Syria, a challenge for the Hashemite Kingdom. Jordanian authorities are engaged in strenuous efforts to stop the infiltrators. The report said that an especially serious attack occurred about two weeks ago, described by the Jordanian army as “lasting 14 hours, with large quantities of weapons, rockets and various firearms seized.”

The IDF is in contact with the Jordanian army to cooperate in efforts to combat infiltrators, including in recent weeks when Israeli residents of the Jordan Valley have reported hearing the sounds of shooting from the border.

The IDF is not concerned about the possibility of the Jordanian army attacking Israel but rather of Iranian-backed militias infiltrating Jordan and crossing its shared border to infiltrate and attack Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)