Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party (Israel is our Home), called for sending a threat message to the Syrian regime if it does not stop using Syrian territory as a logistical base for “Israel’s enemies.”
The Israeli politician and Knesset member said on Monday, October 7th, at the International Conference of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism Policy at Reichman University, during the first anniversary of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, that the message should be that “if Syria continues to be used as a logistical base for our enemies, we will simply seize the Syrian part of Mount Hermon and will not relinquish it until further notice.”
He demanded a response to “Israel’s enemies” based on the principle of “imposing a price,” and any attack on Israel must be met with a response that imposes a “high cost” on the attacking party, according to the Israeli newspaper Maariv.
He suggested that Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad should receive a clear message, whether through public media or through intelligence and diplomatic channels, including direct conversation with him.
In Lebanon too, he demanded the occupation of a defensive line starting from a point on the Lebanese seaside in front of Nabatieh, passing through Marj Ayon and Hatzabi, and continuing to the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Iran and militias backed by it have considerable influence in Syria, using Syrian geography to supply their militias and allied groups with weapons and logistical equipment, the most prominent being the Lebanese Hezbollah, which is engaged in a war with Israel today, costing it most of its leaders.
Syria serves as a supply route for Hezbollah, as Iran has long relied on transporting weapons from its territory through Iraq, then into Syria and Lebanon.
Due to repeated Israeli targeting of weapon shipments in Syria, Iran resorted to using Syrian military installations to manufacture advanced missiles and send them to Hezbollah, but Israel has also targeted these installations.
Following intensified Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the American Bloomberg agency reported that since Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria in 2012, the group has built complex bases and tunnel networks on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The agency, citing sources familiar with military movements, stated that after Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, Syria and Iraq would become primary allies in transferring resources to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Sources indicated that Iran has transported thousands of fighters from Iraq to Syria in the past two months and will attempt to transport thousands more to border areas between Lebanon and Syria to enhance its deterrence capability.
Also, on October 10, 2023, the United Arab Emirates warned the Syrian regime against intervening in the war between Hamas and Israel or allowing attacks from Syrian territories, according to the American website Axios at the time, citing two sources said to be familiar with UAE diplomatic efforts.
The report explained that UAE officials sent messages to high-level Syrian officials (without naming them) amid international concerns about “the war’s extension and escalation into regional conflict,” and the Emiratis briefed the American administration on their communications with regime officials, according to the sources.