IDF Special Forces carry out covert operation, destroy two Syrian outposts

The operation was carried out following Syria's continued violation of the disengagement agreement with Israel since 1974. "We won't allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon."

OCTOBER 15, 2020 16:29

IDF Yahalom unit trains in Jordan valley (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) — IDF Yahalom unit trains in Jordan valley

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Israeli special forces entered the demilitarized zone on the Syrian border last week and destroyed two enemy outposts, the IDF said Tuesday.

The covert operation was carried out following repeated Syrian violations of the disengagement agreement. The 1974 agreement between Israel and Syria stipulates that the border buffer zone be occupied only by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

كشف النقاب: قبل أسابيع (تحديدًا ليل ٢١ من سبتمبر) قامت قوات جيش الدفاع باقتحام موقعيْن متقدميْن تابعيْن للجيش السوري في منطقة فض الاشتباك شرق السياج الأمني شمال هضبة #الجولان وتدميرها. وكان #الجيش_السوري يستخدم المواقع المدمّرة بهدف الاستطلاع والأمن الروتيني (فيديو من العملية) pic.twitter.com/8EU8LG1qsG
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 14, 2020

The Syrian military recently returned to the Golan Heights buffer zone and deployed its forces along the border, prompting the IDF response.

Nahal Brigade soldiers and Engineering Corps commandos from the Yahalom special unit destroyed the outposts without incident.

“You’re facing the enemy; you’re about 500 meters away,” Nahal Brigade Capt. Michael Zilberg told the N12 news site. “A mission like this requires that you to be very focused.”

The operation included “making our way in a silent and covert manner to the targets, placing explosives on both outposts and blowing them up simultaneously,” a Yahalom team commander told N12.

Nahal Brigade Lt.-Col. Tal Goritzki said the mission accomplished more than just punishing the Syrians for violating the agreement.

“We know about the collaboration between the Syrian military and Hezbollah,” he told N12. “Every Syrian military establishment has the potential to become a dual military establishment. We won’t allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon.”

The IDF has been focused in recent years on preventing Hezbollah and Iran from establishing terrorist positions on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and has attacked them from the air.