Analyst: Hezbollah Exploiting Power Vacuum in Syria to Escalate Violence on Israeli Border

Hezbollah has been taking taking advantage of the power vacuum in Syria to try and create a “deterrent balance” against Israel, according to an analysis written by Avi Issacharoff and published Monday in The Times of Israel.

Recent airstrikes attributed to Israel have targeted materiel in Syria intended for Hezbollah, as Iran has been looking to strengthen its proxy. In addition to airstrikes this past week, in January Israel struck a convoy on the Syrian Golan Heights, killing top Hezbollah and Iranian military personnel.

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Hezbollah expert Philip Smyth wrote in Foreign Policy in January that Hezbollah’s stepped-up activity in the Golan was part of Iran’s effort to “encircle” Israel. An analysis written shortly afterward by Jonathan Spyer of the Rubin Center and Benjamin Weinthal of Foundation for Defense of Democracies noted that Iran’s continued efforts to attack Israel and destabilize the region “should debunk any idea that its President Hassan Rouhani is a moderate leader within the Middle East.”

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Read the full article here.