IDF Reveals a Hezbollah Terror Cell is Operating in Syria, to Target the Golan Heights

The IDF on Wednesday revealed it uncovered a terrorist cell, operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is instructed to target the Golan Heights.

The military said the network, which Hezbollah runs together with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, is stockpiling weapons, collecting intelligence and recruiting locals for attacks against Israel.

The cell is operating inside Syria, in a border village, made up of Syrians, but led by the so-called “mastermind”, senior Hezbollah operative, Ali Musa Daqduq.

Ali Musa Daqduq has a history with the United States as well, as he is wanted for attacks against US forces in Iraq in 2007. He was responsible for the abduction and execution of five American servicemen in Iraq, then served time in prison, and released in a prisoner swap.

IDF spokesman Lt.-Colonel Jonathan explains the exposed terror cell in the attached video:

Previously classified intelligence now cleared for publication: Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior operative in the Lebanon-based terrorist organization Hezbollah, has been operating a new terror cell in… Syria.@LTCJonathan pic.twitter.com/peErasDPOa

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 13, 2019

In a statement, the IDF warned the Lebanese terror group that Israel will “not allow any attempt by Hezbollah to entrench itself near the border.”

It says Israeli forces “will act with all our might to force this terrorist organization out” — signaling possible new actions by the Israeli military inside Syria.

Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy and has repeatedly warned that Tehran is trying to entrench itself militarily in Syria as that country’s civil war winds down. Iranian and Hezbollah fighters have sided with President Bashar Assad’s forces in the war and are, along with Russia, the Syrian president’s biggest allies.

While Israel has largely stayed out of the fighting in Syria, it has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on suspected Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel has recently been more public about its military actions and has openly warned of the consequences of Iran establishing a permanent foothold in post-war Syria.