{"id":400321,"date":"2026-04-19T15:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/400321\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T15:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:42:10","slug":"syria-says-it-foiled-hezbollah-linked-cross-border-attack-planned-from-area-near-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/400321\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria says it foiled Hezbollah-linked cross-border attack planned from area near Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syria\u2019s interior ministry said Sunday that security forces thwarted an alleged cross-border attack near the border of Israel planned by remnants of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime and cells linked to the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

From March 2 until a 10-day ceasefire<\/a> went into force on April 17, Hezbollah was battling Israel after drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire aimed at Israel in support of Tehran.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the interior ministry said security forces \u201carrested members of a sabotage cell\u201d linked to Hezbollah and Assad remnants.<\/p>\n

The ministry said the cell \u201cwas working to carry out an attack from inside Syrian territory on targets outside the borders\u201d from Quneitra province, which borders Israel. However, authorities didn\u2019t name the country that had been about to be targeted.<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s official SANA news agency, quoting an interior ministry source, said Hezbollah \u201cintended to launch missiles across the border with the aim of destabilizing the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hezbollah provided military support to Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by an Islamist coalition hostile to the Shiite group.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tSyria\u2019s President Ahmad al-Sharaa talking in a panel during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, in Antalya, southern Turkey, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Riza Ozel)<\/p>\n

Since then, its supply routes from Syria have been cut off, and Lebanese and Syrian authorities are trying to combat smuggling across the porous border between the two countries.<\/p>\n

The ministry said the Quneitra incident was the latest among \u201cseveral attempts to destabilize the country and undermine public security\u201d involving remnants of the former regime and \u201cunscrupulous individuals linked to Hezbollah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Damascus accused Hezbollah of being linked to a cell that attempted to plant an explosive device in front of a house belonging to an unidentified religious figure<\/a> in the Bab Tuma area of the Syrian capital.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Kan public broadcaster and reports in Syria and Saudi Arabia named the figure as Rabbi Michael Khoury.<\/p>\n

The terror group denied the ministry\u2019s claims, saying they were \u201cfalse and fabricated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hezbollah said it has \u201cno activity, no ties and no relationship with any party in Syria, and has no presence on Syrian soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIsraeli soldiers at a staging area near the Israeli border with Syria in northern Israel, February 28, 2026. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

In February, Syria said it had dismantled a cell responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus\u2019s Mazzeh district, claiming the weapons came from Hezbollah, which denied any involvement.<\/p>\n

Under Assad, Syria was part of Iran\u2019s \u201caxis of resistance\u201d against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran to Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

But since taking over, Syria\u2019s Islamist authorities have rejected Iranian influence.<\/p>\n

In March, Hezbollah fired artillery shells into Syria from Lebanon. Syrian army officials said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west of Damascus, according to a report by SANA.<\/p>\n

The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling the news agency it observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.<\/p>\n


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