Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces Take Full Control of Syria’s Qalamoun Mountains

[Bleipriester]

Once again, the Syrian Qalamoun Mountains were cleaned from terrorists. According to the source, the price for taking the soil in that region was too high for over 800 Nusra terrorists in the last month.

"It took less than one month for Hezbollah and the Syrian Arab Army’s 20th and 128th Brigades of the 1st Armored Division to force the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and their affiliates to withdraw from the eastern slopes of the Qalamoun Mountains to the hills of Jaroud ‘Arsal in Lebanon, where they enjoy a small parcel of territory under their possession,

This was not an easy task for the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah, as the Qalamoun Mountains of Syria provided the militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra and their affiliates a fortress to launch offensives, while also providing them a number of border-crossings to reinforce and resupply their entrenched combatants around the Rif Dimashq Governorate.

Unfortunately for the Al-Qaeda fighters, Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces were not willing to allow them to maintain a presence on the border of Lebanon; this developed into a well-strategized offensive that was organized by the Lebanese Resistance and the Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command, as the need to clear this mountain salient became a top priority for both parties.

On Saturday morning, the SAA’s 20th and 128th Brigades stormed the remaining positions belonging to the Jabhat Al-Nusra fighters at Jaroud Faleeta, resulting in the latter’s withdrawal into Lebanon after a series of fierce clashes that included a number of airstrikes from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF); however, Jabhat Al-Nusra is likely to counter in order to evade the complete encirclement by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

According to Al-Mayadeen News, this one month long military operation has resulted in the death of over 800 enemy combatants from the Syrian Al-Qaeda entity; this has not been verified by the Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command."

Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces Take Full Control of Syria s Qalamoun Mountains

 

[Bleipriester]

Hezbollah Inching Closer to the Border of Israel

"As the battle for the Qalamoun Mountains concludes, Hezbollah is preparing to shift its focus to the remaining Syrian border-crossings into Lebanon, leaving the state of Israel on high alert due to the presence of the Lebanese Resistance at its northeastern border.

The Qalamoun Mountains offensive was an imperative military endeavor for the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah because of the large presence of militants from the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) that utilize the border-crossings to resupply their entrenched combatants in western Syria.


With only a small parcel of territory left to capture at the Qalamoun Mountains, Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces will begin to transfer their fighters to the integral Al-Zabadani front, where a number of brigades from the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division are currently embedded along the steep slopes of the Western Mountains.

The Al-Zabadani border-crossing into the Nahle Municipality of Lebanon is a key point for Hezbollah, as this area was once used as a supply route due to its proximity to their stronghold in the Nabitiyah Governorate.

For the state of Israel, Hezbollah’s large-scale participation in the Al-Zabadani battle could be a potential red-line due to the city’s southern most point only measuring 30km from the U.N. Ceasefire Line in the Golan Heights.

Part of the contingency for the Lebanese Resistance is to eventually advance towards the contested Sheba’a Farms near the Al-Quneitra Governorate; this could have major implications in the future, as the Israeli Military Intelligence will have to not only deal with a Hezbollah presence at their northern border, but also, the growing presence of the aforementioned at their eastern border.

Hezbollah was as close as 10km from the Syrian-Israeli border in Al-Quneitra in March, but since then, they have moved most of their fighters from the city of Al-Hamidiyah to the vast Qalamoun Mountains in order to begin their offensive; however, Israel did infuriate the Lebanese Resistance in early 2015 after their assassination of Jihad Moughaniyah and three other Hezbollah members in the Al-Quneitra Governorate.

Will Israel intervene as Hezbollah inches closer to a new frontier in the Syrian Conflict? It still remains unknown; but, one thing is for sure, Hezbollah’s participation has forced Israel to boost its support for the Islamist fighters combatting the Lebanese Resistance and the Syrian Armed Forces."

Hezbollah Inching Closer to the Border of Israel