by E. B. Picali
Some reports revealed that Hizbullah's activity in the Golan was not aimed exclusively at assisting Assad against the rebels, but also to consolidate the organization's presence there in preparation for opening up a new front against Israel.
Introduction
The death of six Hizbullah operatives in a January 18, 2015 airstrike in the Syrian Golan, including two senior organization members – Muhammad Ahmad 'Issa, known as Abu 'Issa, and Jihad Mughniyah, the son of 'Imad Mughniyah, Hizbullah's chief operations officer who was killed in 2008 – placed the issue of Hizbullah's military presence in the Syrian Golan, its character, and its purpose, back in the spotlight. Also killed in the airstrike were operatives from the Qods Force in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), among them Gen. Mohammed 'Ali Allahdadi.[1]
Hizbullah and IRGC forces are known to have been assisting the Syrian regime in fighting the rebels since an early stage of the Syrian uprising. Initially this help was extended in secret, but gradually it became open, despite criticism and objections from various elements in Lebanon. Hizbullah and its patron Iran consider their presence in Syria crucial, not only in order to assist the Syrian regime but also in order to defend the resistance axis at large. Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah emphasized on several occasions that the war against Bashar Al-Assad is not a popular uprising against his regime but rather a war declared by the Islamists, the West, and Israel against the resistance axis, which is fighting for its life. In a May 25, 2013 speech, he said: "...Syria is no longer an arena for a popular rebellion against a political regime, but rather an arena for imposing a political plan led by the U.S., the West, and their lackeys in the region... Syria is the backbone and mainstay of the resistance, and the resistance cannot stand by with its hands tied when its backbone is exposed and its mainstay is broken."[2] He said further: "Any strike on Syrian soil is a strike against the entire resistance axis... and the entire resistance axis has the right to respond, not just Syria."[3]
Reports in the Arab media – especially the media affiliated with opponents of Hizbullah and the resistance axis – provide numerous details on Hizbullah's presence in Syria and in particular its military activity in the Syrian Golan. For example, reports have it that Hizbullah dispatched its Druze Lebanese operative Samir Al-Quntar to Druze villages in the Mount Hermon area in Syria to form a pro-Assad militia there.[4] A former pro-Syrian Lebanese minister, the Druze Wiam Wahhab, said that the six Hizbullah operatives killed in Quneitra had "helped the Druze in Syria, [and] had trained people to defend themselves and armed them. They did a lot to defend the Druze, along with the brothers from the IRGC."[5]
Some reports revealed that Hizbullah's activity in the Golan was not aimed exclusively at assisting Assad against the rebels, but also to consolidate the organization's presence there in preparation for opening up a new front against Israel. In this context, Syrian opposition elements reported in October 2014 that Jihad Mughniyah had been appointed as Hizbullah's commander of operations against Israel in the Golan.
However, despite Syrian, Iranian, and Hizbullah threats regarding the opening of a front in the Golan,[6] Nasrallah has recently been trying to downplay the importance of Hizbullah's presence there. In a January 15, 2015 interview with the Al-Mayadeen channel, he said that Hizbullah had no military presence in the Golan but was only assisting the Syrian resistance: "What is happening in the Golan is Syrian resistance. Hizbullah has no military force carrying out resistance operations there... We may be helping, assisting or training some of the [Syrian] resistance groups, or providing some of their needs."[7] However, Lebanese media close to Hizbullah, as well as Syrian opposition elements, have revealed much information to the contrary. This information includes further details on Hizbullah's activity and preparations in the Golan and the establishment of a force that would act against Israel from this region and from the Syrian Mount Hermon area. It was also reported that IRGC officers were present in bases on the Israeli border. These reports shed light on the scope of the involvement of Iran and the IRGC, and of organizations they sponsor, such as Hizbullah, in Syria and especially in the Golan.[8]
This article reviews the numerous details that have recently come to light regarding the activity of Hizbullah and the IRGC in the Syrian Golan.
'Al-Akhbar' Journalists: Hizbullah Establishing Syrian Force In Golan For Attacks On Israel; Resistance Frontline Stretches From Mediterranean To Syrian Golan
Firas Al-Shoufi, a columnist for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar,
which is close to Hizbullah, referred to the organization's activity in
the Golan in an article he published on January 19, 2015, one day after
the airstrike in which the Hizbullah operatives and Iranian general
were killed. According to him, Hizbullah and the Syrian regime are
working in concert to establish a military force to carry out resistance
operations against Israel. He wrote: "It is no secret that, over the
past year, the resistance [Hizbullah] and Syrian security apparatuses
have been trying to establish [in the Syrian Golan] a well-trained and
well-equipped force comprised of Golan villagers, in order to defend
villages close to the border with the occupied Golan and occupied
Palestine against terrorist attacks; as well as another force for
carrying out resistance operations from the Golan and Mount Hermon
against the Israeli enemy only. Incidentally, [these operations] are not
restricted to the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, since reports coming
from the Lebanese side of the mountain indicate that [the towns of]
Hasbaya and Shab'a [in the Lebanese Golan] will also be part of any
future campaign with Israel,[9] as will the villages in the central and western [parts] of South
Lebanon [that border the Galilee]." Al-Shoufi cited security sources in
Quneitra as saying that "eliminating a number of field commanders on the
ground will not weaken the activity in the Golan. On the contrary, the
blood of the martyrs will only strengthen the resolve of the resistance
fighters... Israel can no longer separate the fronts stretching from Ras
Nakura [Rosh HaNikra, the westernmost point on the Israel-Lebanon
border] to the Golan and Al-Suwayda [in southwestern Syria]."[10]
A January 19 article in the Lebanese daily Al-Safir likewise
stated that the airstrike had contributed to the formation of "Israel's
[new] northern border, [stretching] from Ras Nakura south [of Lebanon]
to Quneitra in the Golan... which means widening the geographical
margins of the resistance activity."[11]
Two days later, Al-Shoufi published another
article, in which he wrote that at least six months before Hizbullah had
announced its intention to establish a resistance force in the Golan,
Assad had given it permission to "start organizing a ground force
comprised of residents of the [Syrian] Golan that would carry out
attacks against the [Israeli] occupation forces."[12]
Another Al-Akhbar columnist, Wafiq Qansawa,
also wrote on the day following the attack that this operation had
provided the resistance with "the justification to continue working with
the Syrians to create a supportive and active Syrian environment that
would [facilitate] the establishment of a resistance movement in the
Golan – [work] which had already been underway and even at advanced
stages [at the time of the attack]. The attack will catalyze steps in
this direction and even increase them twofold."[13]
Jordanian Al-Akhbar columnist Nahed Hattar
claimed that the first step towards reestablishing what he called
"natural Syria" (i.e. greater Syria or Al-Sham) was "unifying the
resistance in South Lebanon and the Golan, [a step] which is [now] being
taken in practice."[14]
Jihad Mughniyah – Hizbullah's Commander Of Operations In Golan
As noted, one of the senior Hizbullah operatives
who were killed in the January 18, 2015 airstrike was Jihad Mughniyah,
in his early twenties, the son of ‘Imad Mughniyah, Hizbullah's chief
operations officer who was killed in 2008 in central Damascus. Jihad was
reportedly close to the Hizbullah leadership and the IRGC. In October
2014, it was reported that he had been appointed Hizbullah's commander
of operations in the Syrian Golan. Moayyed Ghazlan, a member of the
general secretariat of the oppositionist Syrian National Council, told
CNN Arabic on October 12, 2014 that Mughniyah had been placed in charge
of the Golan dossier, and that he had begun mobilizing elements from
Hizbullah, as well as local elements in the Golan, in order to
strengthen Hizbullah's presence in Syria. Ghazlan also stated that
Mughniyah had been appointed to this role thanks to his close ties with
Nasrallah, with Mustafa Badr Al-Din, who is considered to be Hizbullah's
current chief operations officer, and with the IRGC, and that his
appointment "indicates that Hizbullah is planning a security and
strategic escalation in Syria in the coming period."[15]
In a eulogy published in Al-Akhbar two days
after the attack, Hadi Ahmad wrote: "There are widespread rumors
regarding your role, including that you were appointed commander of
operations in the occupied Golan [meaning in Israeli territory]."[16]
According to a January 19, 2015 report in
Al-Arabiya, Mughniyah attended the American University in Lebanon and
became active in Hizbullah in 2008, following his father's death. The
report claimed further that he had undergone military training in
Lebanon and Iran, and was a protégé of Nasrallah and of IRGC Qods Force
commander Qasem Soleimani. Unlike other reports, this one claimed that
Abu 'Issa, the other Hizbullah operative killed in the attack, was the
organization's commander of operations in the Golan, rather than
Mughniyah himself, and that Mughniyah was the commander of a Hizbullah
company in the Quneitra area, under Abu 'Issa.[17]
A report published in Al-Akhbar on January
18, one day after Jihad Mughniyah's death, possibly provides some
indication regarding his plans in the Golan. According to the report,
during a party held by Mughniyah's extended family one week before he
was killed, young family members were asked to mention some of their
plans for the new year. According to the daily, Mughniyah himself
refused to speak and merely said: "I will announce my plans to you next
week."[18]
Jihad Mughniyah with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (image: Farsi.khamenei.ir, January 20, 2015)
Left:
Jihad Mughniyah with Hassan Nasrallah; right: Jihad Mughniyah with his
father, ‘Imad Mughniyah (images: Alarabiya.net, October 13, 2014)
Jihad Mughniyah with IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani (image: Alarabiya.net, October 13, 2014)
Syrian Opposition Sources: Capture Of Tel Al-Harrah Exposed Hizbullah's Deep Involvement In Golan
Extensive information on Hizbullah's presence in
the Golan and on the nature of its activity there was revealed in early
October 2014 by the Syrian opposition, after various Syrian rebel
groups, including the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Jabhat Al-Nusra
fighters, captured Tel Al-Harrah, a strategic hill in the Quneitra area.[19]
The strategic importance of Tel Al-Harrah lies not only in the fact
that it overlooks a wide area of the Syrian Golan, stretching as far as
Rif Dimashq. It is also the location of a large intelligence base of the
Syrian army, which reportedly served the Russian army as well. In a
video posted on the Internet, FSA officers reported on what they had
found in the base after they captured it. The findings indicate that it
was a joint Syrian-Russian intelligence and espionage post for
collecting information on Israel.[20]
Other videos of the base after its capture, released by the FSA and
Jabhat Al-Nusra, also show Hizbullah flags and the bodies of Hizbullah
soldiers, indicating that operatives from this organization were
likewise present there in recent months.[21]
In addition, according to Syrian opposition
elements, the FSA captured many Hizbullah intelligence documents that
shed light on the organization's activity and plans in the Golan.
Moayyed Ghazlan told CNN Arabic: "In capturing the strategic Tel
Al-Harrah, we exposed Hizbullah's massive involvement in the Golan. We
discovered [evidence] that Hizbullah has many posts there [in the
Golan], as well as evidence tying it to plots concerning the Golan...
The evidence uncovered in Tel Al-Harrah... proves that Hizbullah has
long-term plans for this area."[22]
Firas Al-Shoufi claimed that materials seized at the base were
transferred to Israel in broad daylight via the Quneitra crossing.[23]
Syrian Opposition Sources:
Hizbullah, IRGC, Russian Experts, Stationed In Several Bases In Syrian
Golan, Are Independently Directing Campaign Against Rebels
Reports in the Arab media also mentioned the IRGC's presence in the Syrian Golan. The London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat cited
Syrian opposition elements as saying that both Hizbullah and IRGC
soldiers have been present in the Golan for some time. According to
these sources, "Hizbullah's fighters and experts have been in Quneitra
since May 2013, when Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah first
announced that his organization would 'stand by the popular Syrian
resistance and provide it with aid, coordination, training and
cooperation in order to liberate the Syrian Golan.'" The sources also
claimed that Hizbullah "has effectively been directing the military
campaign in the Quneitra region since March [2014], assisted by Iranian
officers.”[24]
Another report, by Syrian opposition official and
director of the Syria Press Agency Maher Al-Hamdan, was published in the
Lebanese daily Al-Nahar. According to him, the Syrian opposition
forces that captured the base in Tel Al-Harrah seized advanced
Russian-made systems that were found there. He claimed further that,
since the capture of Tel Al-Harrah, the Syrian regime has reinforced
other bases in the Golan, with the assistance of Hizbullah and IRGC
forces. According to Al-Hamdan, Jihad Mughniyah was in charge of the
Quneitra city center area, and according to some reports IRGC Qods Force
commander Qasem Soleimani also stayed there a short while.
According to Al-Hamdan, the airstrike in which the
Hizbullah and IRGC operatives were killed took place in the town Mazari'
Al-Amal in the rural area north of Quneitra, and also targeted a
military patrol base. Also in the region is a regime infantry base that
houses Russian drone monitoring systems. Russian experts, as well as a
Hizbullah-IRGC military contingent that provides security for these
experts, are also stationed in the area. Al-Hamdan added that several
dozen Hizbullah and IRGC operatives were killed in the airstrike and one
Russian expert was lightly wounded.
Al-Hamdan provided a detailed list of the most important Hizbullah and IRGC bases in the Quneitra area, as follows:
"Tel Al-Sha'er regional [base] in
the rural area north of Quneitra, or more precisely in the town of
Ayouba. This is the main military stronghold remaining to the Assad
forces in Quneitra. It serves Russian and Iranian experts, as well as
Hizbullah soldiers, as the main base for directing the battles in [this
region], and also houses advanced Russian-made espionage systems.
"Division 90 base, located in the northern
Al-Koum area in the rural area north of Quneitra, is considered a major
planning base for IRGC, Hizbullah and regime commanders, and for Russian
military experts.
"Vanguard and infantry bases, both located
near Mazari' Al-Amal, considered to be spy bases managed by military
experts. They house Hizbullah and IRGC military units; Tel Al-Ahmar
serves as their [main] base.
"Tel Al-Ahmar, located in the town 'Ain
Al-Nouriyya east of Mazari' Al-Amal. This is the second strongest
military stronghold in Quneitra [after Tel Al-Sha'er]. It houses
advanced Russian-made systems and is a stronghold for Hizbullah units
and IRGC and Russian experts, and is tasked with managing the battles in
the rural area north of Quneitra. It is adjacent to Tel Al-Sha'er and
the Division 90 [base].
"Patrol unit camp, located in the town of
Al-Shuhada (Al-Ba'th), houses Hizbullah and Iranian IRGC units that do
not exceed 75 troops [altogether], including high-ranking military
commanders who oversee the battles against the rebels in the area of the
[Quneitra] border crossing. They are responsible for defending the
[Quneitra] city center so it does not fall into rebel hands."[25]
Article In Syrian Government Daily 'Teshreen': Hizbullah's Presence In Golan A Strategic Necessity
In an article published January 20, 2015, two days
after the Golan airstrike, Salim Harba, a columnist for the Syrian
government daily Teshreen, admitted that Hizbullah was present in
Quneitra. He described its presence in the Golan as a strategic
necessity, due to the need to protect Lebanon and Hizbullah against
Syrian terrorists aided by Israel. He wrote: "It is no secret that
Hizbullah is in Syria. The lord of resistance, Hassan Nasrallah, already
said [in the past] that 'Hizbullah will be where it needs to be,' and
it has indeed been [present] in Quneitra.
"If Hizbullah's presence in Syria is a strategic
necessity, stemming from the need to defend Lebanon and the resistance
against terror – following the principle that 'prevention is better than
cure' and as part of the strategy of defense outside the fortified
walls – then its presence in Quneitra is no less strategic and necessary
than its presence in Al-Qusayr and Al-Qalamoun [in western Syria]."
Harba claimed that the Syrian terror organizations,
headed by Jabhat Al-Nusra and with Israeli guidance and support,
attempted to reach South Lebanon in order to fight Hizbullah. This, in
order to "create a bridge between the terrorist organizations in Mount
Hermon and those in Al-Qalamoun [to the north], so that the Zionist
entity and its terrorist gangs would form a terrorist wedge dividing the
resistance from the Syrian army and blocking the supply routes and the
passages between Syria and Lebanon. Therefore, Hizbullah's presence in
the rural area around Quneitra… was a strategic necessity as preventive
defense for [Hizbullah] and for its surroundings..."[26]
Bashar Al-Assad In 2013: "The Golan Will Become A Resistance Front"
Nasrallah and Assad threatened in the past that the
resistance front would expand from South Lebanon to the Syrian Golan.
In May 2013, following airstrikes on Syrian soil that were attributed to
Israel, targeting Iranian missiles intended for Hizbullah, Assad
declared that the Syrian Golan would "become a resistance front".[27]
Nasrallah threatened: "We in the Lebanese resistance announce that we
will stand by the Syrian popular resistance and provide it with material
and moral support, as well as coordination and cooperation, in order to
liberate the Syrian Golan."[28]
In May 2013, Ibrahim Al-Amin, board chairman of Al-Akhbar, also
referred to the resistance front expanding from Lebanon to Syria and
even broached the idea of eliminating the border between the two states
to create a single front with Israel. He wrote: "All must conduct
themselves on the basis of an effective expansion of the northern front
[from Lebanon towards Syria]. In the near future we may see continued
calm on the Lebanese border [with Israel], while the hottest front will
be on Palestine's border with Syria [in the Golan]... Simply put, we
will witness a new level of unity between the Lebanese resistance and
Syria... This means that the possibility of a total conflict [in the
region], which will leave no borders between Lebanon and Syria, is very
real."[29]
In a May 18, 2013 article, Al-Amin wrote in Al-Akhbar:
"The front of active resistance against the enemy has expanded [to
include the Golan]. Those who like to document [facts] must familiarize
themselves in detail with the geography of the occupied Golan and grow
accustomed to the names of the towns, sites, and centers of commerce,
industry, and tourism [there], and prepare [to learn] different facts."[30] The same day Al-Akhbar published
a map of the Golan marking various sites including the town of Katzrin,
the Ski resort on Mount Hermon and an IDF listening post.
(Al-Akhbar, Lebanon, May 18, 2014)
The suggestion to unite the resistance front recurred in a recent Al-Akhbar article
by Jordanian columnist Nahed Hattar, who wrote on January 23, 2015:
"The Golan is neither South Lebanon nor Gaza, [but] a pan-Arab arena
common to Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. From this day
onward there is no place for partial resistance and partial national
programs. There will be no victory no future without a unified
resistance, a unified leadership and a unified purpose: an independent
unified East without Israel, without reactionism and without sectarian
and ethnic distinctions...”[31]
E. B. Picali is a research fellow at MEMRI.
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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