Israeli Rocket Strikes Hit Hezbollah Facility And Syrian Army Brigade Headquarters

Illustration of Israel's MLRS rocket launcher. (Wikimedia Commons/Israeli Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit.)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military (IDF) reportedly attacked a military post near Quinetra late Tuesday, Syrian media reported. The state-run SANA news agency said two missiles were fired in the attack west of the town of Hadar, in the northern Quneitra countryside.

Video posted to The Jerusalem Post and shared on social media shows a missile flying through the air before detonating. The video was taken from the town of Magdal Shams which is on the Israeli side of the border in the Golan Heights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attack targeted posts belonging to Iran-backed militias, including the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah, near the city of Hadr Druze.

Hadr is located only about 3 kilometers from the border between the two countries on the Golan Heights in Quneitra Province.

Pro-opposition sources were quoted as saying two sites were hit, one belonging to Hezbollah and the other being the headquarters of General Husein Hamoush's Syrian First Division's 90th Brigade.

The IDF does not comment on foreign reports, but in May, the Israeli military dropped leaflets accusing the Syrian Arab Army of cooperating with Hezbollah and explicitly naming Hamoush as the group's head of operations in the Golan, Hajj Hashem.

"Stop cooperating with Syrian and Lebanese Hezbollah personnel. Otherwise, you will not have peace of mind", the IDF warned, citing The Jerusalem Post August 18.

"We note in particular Brigadier General Hussein Hamoush, commander of Brigade 90. And he is among those who have sold their conscience and homeland at the cheapest price in exchange for Hezbollah's help to disguise their image among their masters, ignoring the public interest and your safety", the IDF said.

Israel has repeatedly warned it will not tolerate Tehran's efforts to establish a permanent military presence in the Syrian Golan. It has acknowledged hundreds of attacks on targets belonging to Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah.

Since Syrian forces recaptured southern Syria and returned to their positions, Hezbollah and Iranian-backed forces have been deployed to the area. According to a report by the ALMA Center for Research and Education, there are about 58 sites belonging to the group in the provinces of Quneitra and Dara'a in southern Syria.

Meanwhile, according to a report released last year, there are 28 locations with Hezbollah forces deployed as part of Southern Command units and another 30 locations where cells operate under Project Golan.

"These two units, Southern Command and Golan Files pose ongoing operational and intelligence challenges to the State of Israel and stability in the region", the report said.

To note, the Southern Command, led by Munir Ali Na'im Shaiti, is the Hezbollah unit in charge of southern Syria. Its main function is to create Hezbollah infrastructure in the area. Apart from gathering intelligence on the IDF, it also trains the Syrian Arab Army's 1st Corps for the war with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Golan Project is under the command of Ali Mussa Daqduq and is based in Damascus and the Lebanese capital, Beirut. There have been dozens of operations carried out in the cities of Hadar, Quinetra, and Erneh in Syria, gathering intelligence about Israel and military movements in Israel's Golan Heights.

Since then, another 10 villages in Quneitra province and another 14 villages in Dara'a province have active cells belonging to the Golan Project, bringing the total number of cells near the Israeli border to 30.