Israeli Airstrike on Infrastructure for Arms Smuggling from Syria to Lebanon

The Israeli army announced that its air force attacked "infrastructure used for smuggling weapons from Syria to the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the Janta crossing at the Syrian-Lebanese border" early on Friday, January 7. According to the Israeli army's Telegram channel, "the terrorist organization Hezbollah uses civilian infrastructure for terrorist activities and arms smuggling to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens." The Israeli army noted that these efforts are led by Hezbollah's Unit 4400, which is responsible for smuggling weapons into Lebanon from the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxy groups to increase Hezbollah's weapon stockpile. The Israeli army stated that targeting the forces and positions of this unit was part of an ongoing effort to disrupt arms smuggling operations from Syria to Lebanon and prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing smuggling routes. The Israeli army emphasized that it would continue its actions to eliminate any threats against the country in accordance with the agreements outlined in the ceasefire with Hezbollah. In this context, Major General Tomer Bar, commander of the Israeli Air Force, said: "This morning we attacked seven Syrian-Lebanese border crossings; we realized they are trying to test us and smuggle military equipment again. We cannot tolerate this." The Israeli army reported that over the past three months, it has seized more than 85,000 weapons, missiles, and other military items belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army's account on X published a video showing some of the seized military equipment and added that Israeli forces have conducted operations at more than 30 locations in southern Lebanon during these three months, identifying and destroying many of the group's terrorist infrastructures and eliminating a large number of its members. According to the Israeli army, the seized military equipment was intended for attacks on Israeli civilians as part of the "capture of Galilee" plan. The Israeli army stated that as a result of recent military operations, Hezbollah's military capabilities have significantly decreased. Hezbollah Lebanon has unilaterally begun its rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel since the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. In response, Israel has conducted severe attacks against this group's positions in Lebanon and Syria, killing hundreds of members of this major proxy arm of the Iranian government in the region, including its leader and senior military commanders such as Hassan Nasrallah, Foad Shukr, Ibrahim Aqil, and Hashem Safi al-Din.