Israel, Syria heighten alert for possible war

[Shammu]

Israel, Syria heighten alert for possible war
Military presence boosted as Assad warns of looming conflict over Golan
Posted: October 26, 2006
9:55 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

GOLAN HEIGHTS – Israel has visibly beefed up its military presence here in the Golan Heights while neighboring Syria reportedly has placed its army on high alert and has warned it is preparing for a possible war with the Jewish state.

The Israeli Defense Forces yesterday carried out the second in a series of scheduled military exercises in the Golan.

IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz earlier this week made a surprise visit to the mountainous territory, which the army here said was intended to test the operational readiness and capabilities of local divisions.

Since the end of Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in August, Syrian President Bashar Assad has given a series of interviews in which he warned of possible confrontations with Israel. He has stated several times he views Hezbollah's "victory" over Israel as proof military tactics bring results.

In recent weeks, Assad said the Syrian army was preparing for war, claiming he was worried Israel would attack his country first.

"We must remain ready at all times. We have begun preparations within the framework of our options," Assad told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba.

He said Israel could attack Syria "at any moment" and that Israeli leaders have abandoned the peace process and are seeking a war.

Yossi Beyditz, head of research for the IDF's intelligence branch, told the Israeli cabinet last week the Jewish state has indications Assad is "preparing his army for a confrontation with Israel."

"Assad has not returned the army to its pre-Lebanon war positions," Beyditz said.

Israeli officials here claim the IDF alert level in the Golan Heights has not been raised in response to Assad's recent statements and to the new Israeli intelligence estimates. They say Israel has maintained the same heightened state of alert in the Golan Heights that has been in effect since clashes with Hezbollah broke out July 12.

But a tour of the Golan Heights finds multiple new army positions local residents and soldiers stationed here say were established within the past three weeks. More tanks have been patrolling the area, with several tanks setting up shop in strategic positions, according to soldiers. Makeshift military outposts have been erected and Golan checkpoints fortified.

A fence that runs along parts of the Golan-Syrian border also has been fortified, with a series of surveillance cameras newly installed. Residents in one border town told WND the new cameras were installed along the border fence two weeks ago.

Syria has noticed the beefed up IDF presence and in response has heightened its own alertness even more, according to yesterday's edition of the Qatari newspaper, Al-Watan. The newspaper said Syrian Defense Minister Hassan Turkmani ordered troops in the area to be on the ready. Syrian sources said Damascus was closely monitoring IDF activity in the Golan.

The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory captured by the Jewish state after Syria used the terrain to attack Israel in 1967 and again in 1973. The Heights looks down on major Syrian and Israeli population centers.

Military officials here have long maintained returning the Golan Heights to Syria would grant Damascus the ability to mount an effective ground invasion of the Jewish state.

'Damascus prepping public for war'

Security officials here told WND there have been indications the past few weeks Syria is seeking to launch a provocation. Besides Assad's statements, the officials say state-run Syrian media have been broadcasting regular warlike messages unseen since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Syria and Egypt launched invasions from the Golan and the Sinai desert.

"The tone [in Syria] is one of preparing the public for a war," said a senior security official.

He said any Syrian provocation would likely be coordinated with Iran. Tehran and Damascus, which both support Hezbollah, have signed several military pacts.

Reuven Erlich, a Syrian expert and director of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, told WND Assad's threats "are to be taken seriously."

"Assad's support for terrorism, for the insurgency in Iraq, for Hezbollah and his alliance with Iran are all indication of the direction in which Syria is headed. Assad needs to demonstrate he is willing to sue for peace, but everything seems to indicate the opposite. Especially following the war in Lebanon," Erlich said.

Reports: Syria to form own Hezbollah

In July, WND first reported Syria is forming its own Hezbollah-like guerrilla organization to attack Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, according to a senior Baath party official.

The Baath official told WND Syria learned from Hezbollah's military campaign against Israel that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory.

Hezbollah claims its goal is to liberate the Shebaa Farms, a small, 12-square-mile bloc situated between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The cease-fire resolution accepted by Israel to end its military campaign in Lebanon calls for negotiations leading to Israel's relinquishing of the Shebaa Farms.

The official told WND Syria's new Front for the Liberation of the Golan Heights was formed in June and that the group consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Front in June.

One week after the WND article detailing the claimed group was published, state-run Al-Alam Iranian television featured an interview with a man who identified himself as the leader of the new Front for the Liberation of the Golan.

The man, whose features were blocked out, said his new group consists of "hundreds" of fighters who are training for guerrilla-like raids against Israeli positions in and near the Golan. He claimed the Front has opened several training camps inside Syria.

Last month, Amos Yadlin, head of the IDF's intelligence branch, told the Knesset Syria is in the early stages of forming a Hezbollah-like group.
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Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.