‘We'll Strike Without Hesitation’: Israel Warns Syria Factions Over Arms Smuggling

Latest Developments

Message Relayed: Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said on December 22 that Jerusalem had relayed a deterrent message “to all of the players in Syria, to the militias of this or that kind.” The message, he told Channel 14 in Hebrew, on the sidelines of a security cabinet meeting held in northern Israel, was: “We’ll strike, without hesitation, at anyone who tries to renew the transfer of weaponry from Iran via Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

Beirut Back in Line of Fire: Cohen further hinted that Israel was willing to undertake asymmetrical retaliation to preserve the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Our message to Lebanon and to the relevant parties there is that for any mortar that is launched toward the north (of Israel), Beirut should shake,” he said. Separately, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon, where the IDF has continued engineering work to destroy Hezbollah facilities and occasionally attacked Hezbollah terrorists operating within the zone since the U.S.-mediated truce came into effect on Nov. 27. Israel has “pulled out the snake’s teeth and, if Hezbollah does not withdraw beyond the Litani (River) and tries to violate the ceasefire, we will crush its head,” Katz said.

Long Stay in Syria Buffer: Israel sent ground forces into a former UN-patrolled buffer zone east of the Golan Heights after former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was overthrown by rebels on Dec. 8. Netanyahu and other officials have described this as a temporary precaution against any attempts by jihadi insurgents to attack Israel. Cohen said the stay could be long, given the lack of clarity over who will take over in Damascus and the extent to which the new leadership will be reliable when it comes to preventing cross-border friction. “I reckon we will remain there for long months, if not beyond that,” he said.

FDD Expert Response

“In this generation, there are two Israels: pre-October 7 and post-October 7. The post-October 7 refuses, rightly, to trust in rhetoric or theory when it comes to border security. In Lebanon and Syria, as in the Gaza Strip, the Israelis will look mainly to their army, and to the measure of strategic depth provided by buffer zones.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“As Western powers line up to engage al-Jolani and his HTS-led interim administration in Damascus, Israel is also communicating – but only to the extent needed to establish deterrence and deconfliction. If the Syrians want a more peaceful relationship, they will have to prove themselves deserving.” — Ben Cohen, FDD Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Manager