Fighters affiliated with the new Syrian authorities, who succeeded the Bashar al-Assad regime, take part in a military parade in Damascus on Dec. 27, 2024. (Archive photo: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
Syrian authorities announced Tuesday that they have arrested, in the southern province of Deraa near the Golan Heights occupied by Israel, three members of a "cell affiliated with Hezbollah" who, according to officials, were plotting attacks, specifically the launching of rockets.
The new Syrian authorities are hostile towards Hezbollah which fought alongside the previous regime of Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war. The announcement of the arrest came just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were "indications" of possible attacks on his country ahead of the Oct. 27 elections.
Intelligence and security forces "foiled a sabotage attempt in the Yarmouk Basin, in Deraa province, and arrested a cell affiliated with Hezbollah composed of three individuals," the security forces' statement said. The region, where Syrian state media have already reported Israeli incursions and bombings, borders the Syrian Golan Heights annexed by Israel as well as Jordan. The statement reports a "cell's attempt to prepare rocket launch platforms to carry out attacks intended to destabilize security and stability," without specifying the intended targets.
Syrian authorities have previously claimed to have dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, allegations the movement has denied. They have also announced several seizures of weapons, allegedly intended for Hezbollah, which lost a key supply route from Iran following the fall of the Assad clan in December 2024.
Several times in recent months, Washington has hinted at a role Damascus might play in putting an end to Hezbollah. In response, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa stated that his country has no intention of intervening militarily in Lebanon. Last week, from New York, he stressed that Syria wants "to strengthen the Lebanese authorities, so they have better institutions, so that no weapon is used outside the rule of law," while Lebanese authorities have pledged to disarm the pro-Iranian group.
Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, prompting Israel to re-escalate the war on March 2, with relentless deadly bombings and a ground invasion. While Israel continues strikes in Lebanon, occupying more than 600 km2 along the southern border, Hezbollah has not claimed any further attacks against that country since a nominal "cease-fire" was reached between Washington and Tehran on June 20.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and deployed troops in a U.N. buffer zone that used to separate its forces from Syrian troops on the Golan. It has also conducted deeper incursions inside Syrian territory and is demanding a demilitarized zone in the south. Israel captured most of the Golan Heights in 1967, then annexed it, a decision recognized only by Washington and Bogota.
