Israeli Jet Intercepts Inbound Drone From Syria In Escalation
While Israel has over the past months and even years regularly attacked Syria - especially in Damascus and its environs - with airstrikes, it remains extremely rare for projectiles to be fired the other way, from Syria onto Israel.
But that very rare event appears to have taken place Tuesday, as an Israeli Air Force fighter jet was scrambled and shot down a "suspicious aerial target" that flew into Israeli airspace from Syria.
Israeli media citing the IDF believes that it was a drone, however, few details were given and the military says it is unclear precisely who was behind the attack.
Israel has said that both Hezbollah and Iranian officers and troops have long been present in Syria, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes their positions at least on a weekly basis at this point. Syria did near the start of the Gaza war, within days after the Hamas Oct.7 attack, fire rockets into the occupied Golan Heights territory, but that was essentially a one-off.
Fears persist that the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel fighting along the southern Lebanese border could at any moment spill over into a bigger regional conflict that would certainly have immediate impact on Syria and the Golan.
As for fighting in Lebanon, Israeli media has tallied, "Hezbollah has named 232 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 37 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 30 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed."
On Sunday, Arab media sources did claim a new development which suggests escalation. Hezbollah said it struck Israeli ground forces on Lebanon's own territory, which suggests an 'invasion' or border breach of some kind was attempted:
Hezbollah claimed to thwart two separate Israeli attempts to enter Lebanese territory late Sunday evening, saying it struck Israeli soldiers "directly" with rockets and artillery shells.
According to a statement by the group, two groups of Israeli forces attempted to cross into Lebanese territory from the town of Ramya along the central part of the Lebanese border and the town of Rmeish in the west.
The two infiltration attempts occurred within half an hour of one another.
If accurate, this would mark the first instance of Israeli troops attempting to enter Lebanon since that start of the conflict which began in the aftermath of Oct.7.
Fresh Hezbollah missile attacks have left towns across northern Lebanon without power...
⚡️Reports of power outages in the western Galilee after a missile strike by Hezb-Allah pic.twitter.com/uqn6Qy6DIV
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 4, 2024
Any potential scenario where Israel were to move ground troops into southern Lebanon would likely spark a bigger war with Hezbollah, which could engulf all of Lebanon. Already Israel has launched airstrikes deep into Lebanese territory, including all the way up to the Bekaa Valley.