ISIS (Da’esh) terror fighters in southern Syria are nearing the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, sources said over the weekend. IDF officials are watching closely.

The leaders of both Da’esh and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror organization threatened Israel over this weekend — but military officials have their eye on ISIS. The terror entity is in southern Syria and heading for that country’s border with northern Israel in the Golan Heights, according to military sources and Israeli media.

Also of concern is the fact that Da’esh has established branch bases in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, along the Iraqi-Jordanian border, and in Gaza – thus effectively surrounding Israel and her allies on three sides as well. The terror group is also well established in Nigeria, Libya and Somalia.

“Within a few days, we will conquer the Syrian border with Israel,” a spokesperson for Da’esh told journalists this weekend.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group is continuing to fight — and lose scores of men — on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad as Syria’s civil war continues into its fifth year. They are joined by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, who direct the fighting.

“Millions” of Israelis will be displaced and become “refugees” in any war between Hezbollah and the Jewish State, terror leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened Friday. In a speech broadcast on the Hezbollah-linked Al Manar TV station, Nasrallah said, “In Israel, they are aware of the power of Hezbollah and recently they conducted exercises which showed their concern about our ability to strike their Home Front with strength, and defeat them.”

Nasrallah was referring in his remarks to the “Turning Point” civil defense drill carried out each year at this time in Israel by Home Front Command. The nationwide exercise tests wartime readiness and cooperation by various emergency response and municipal agencies as well as that of the general population.

Today for the most part Syria is no longer; it has been carved up into a collection of small fiefdoms or emirates, each headed by a leader pledged to one of the terror groups. Very few areas are still controlled by the moderate, Western-backed Free Syrian Army that was once the hope of so many.

Even fewer areas are controlled by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who apparently has resigned himself to the takeover of his nation by ISIS and has chosen not to target the terror group in his attacks.

And although his Iranian allies have made a great show of “helping to protect” Iraqis against ISIS and doing the same with Yemenis via the Houthi rebels, the truth is much more complicated.

It’s not really clear, for instance, how passionately the Islamic Republic is actually fighting Da’esh in Yemen or in Iraq — if at all — but it is crystal clear that Iran is not harassing ISIS north of Israel’s border.

In fact, it is probably just a matter of time before Iran openly patronizes the terrorist entity, if only to help in the attempt to annihilate Israel.

The once-proud nation of Syria is bloodied and worn, torn apart with years of internal warfare that really just began with a revolution against President Assad as part of the Arab Spring.

But that was long ago, before Assad recruited his allies, Iran and Russia, to help him in his war against his own people.

Before the Syrians who were fighting to raise a new government themselves, began to fight each other and instead split into factions.

Before the fundamentalist Islamist factions among them suddenly discovered they had attracted foreign fighters as well, like Al Qaeda and Da’esh – the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The latter was considerably more extreme than most had expected or bargained for and once present, they stayed.

A Lebanese newspaper published over the weekend a series of articles and pictures showing a complex system of  Hezbollah’s highly sophisticated terror tunnels it has built along the border with Israel.

The pro-Hezbollah As-Safir newspaper said Hezbollah is ready to attack Israel at any moment not only with more than 100,000 missiles, as is known, but also with the use of tunnels that are complete with communications equipment, generators and surveillance equipment. Missiles also can be stored in bunkers and transported to a launching site.

Camouflaged tunnels surprised the IDF in the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and forced Israel into a stalemate after 34 days of fighting that killed more than 120 Israeli soldiers and inflicted heavy casualties and damage to northern Israel, including Haifa.

Israel has changed its strategy since the “war via tunnels,” which was duplicated by Hamas in Gaza, but Hezbollah’s entrenchment in villages turns tens of thousands of Lebanese into human shields. However, the As-Safir report did not state that any of Hezbollah’s tunnels actual cross into Israel territory.

The report in As Safir might be a propaganda move to boost the morale of the terrorist organization, which has suffered huge casualties while fighting alongside forces loyal to the Assad regime.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s statement this weekend that the Islamic State (ISIS) is just as much an enemy as Israel is a clear sign that Nasrallah is scared, but if he gets in itchy finger and tries to attack Israel, the IDF is not likely to lay back because of the fear of attacking civilians.

The As-Safir report includes a photo of villages where one-third of the buildings are marked as being used by Hezbollah.

A senior Israeli military official told The New York Times two weeks ago:

The civilians are living in a military compound. We will hit Hezbollah hard, while making every effort to limit civilian casualties as much as we can, [but] we do not intend to stand by helplessly in the face of rocket attacks.

Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah is getting very scared of Islamic State’s advances.

In a speech he gave over the weekend, Nasrallah called on everyone in Lebanon and in the region (presumably excluding Israel) to fight Islamic State.

Nasrallah said Islamic State is as evil as Israel, while claiming that the nations of the region have already beaten Israel and the United States.

Nasrallah said that the US-led coalition cannot protect anyone in Lebanon, Syria or Iraq from Islamic State.

We can only hope that the Islamic State terrorists and the Hezbollah terrorists keep each other very busy for a long time.

The Battle of Qalamoun began yesterday, leaving dozens killed on both sides, in fighting between Hezbollah vs. Jabhat al-Nusra forces and the Syrian Free Army, according to Arab sources.

Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, talked about this upcoming, strategically important battle at the beginning of the year.

Qalamoun is located along the Syrian-Lebanon border.

During the battle between Hezbollah terrorists and Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra forces on Tuesday, 5 senior Hezbollah field commanders were killed.

5 senior Hezbollah field commanders killed in the Qalamoun battle.
IsraelDefense/Rotter.net

The Qalamoun Battle

Al-Nusra has been avoiding fighting in Qalamoun until now, in part, because snow on the ground made it battle conditions difficult, though Al-Nusra’s major concern is that the Qalamoun battles against Hezbollah will draw away resources from their ongoing and nearby battles against Islamic State, which they consider a higher priority at the moment.

Last week, Hassan Nasrallah said that the survival of Bashar Assad’s regime is critical for Hezbollah’s own continued existence.

But Nasrallah also said that Assad will never regain full control over Syria.

Jabhat al-Nusra is part of Al-Quida, while Hezbollah are Iranian proxies who support the Assad regime.

An Israeli investigator has confirmed that it was Israeli fire that accidentally killed a Spanish peacekeeper with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in January during a shootout with Hezbollah.

Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledano died after being hit in a barrage aimed at Hezbollah by Israel. The force missed and struck the UNIFIL soldier instead.

The gunfire followed an unprovoked cross-border attack with anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon at Israeli military personnel and civilians about seven kilometers from the border, inside Israel. Two Israeli soldiers were killed instantly and several other people were seriously wounded. A civilian home in a nearby Druze village was destroyed in the multi-pronged attack as well.

Nevertheless, Spain’s UN ambassador blamed Israel, and the United Nations Security Council was persuaded to condemn the killing of the UNIFIL soldier, implying his death was caused by Israel alone even though that was obviously not the case.

It was the most serious exchange of gunfire between Israel and Hezbollah since the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a point of warning Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah on public media to “look at Gaza” before he considered his next step and decided whether to proceed with more violence or to cease the attacks.

According to a UN diplomat, Israel has submitted an apology privately to Spain, but there has been no public admission of responsibility. Jerusalem has made it clear the death was accidental, resulting from the deliberate attack on Israel by Hezbollah.

Iran’s puppet in Lebanon, Hezbollah chieftain Hassan Nasrallah, is angry.

He’s angry at Saudi Arabia for attacking the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, trying to prevent Iran from taking over Yemen.

He’s angry at Palestinian Authority chieftain Mahmoud Abbas, who openly expressed support for Saudi Arabia.

He hasn’t said anything yet about Hamas, but they also expressed support for Yemen and the Saudi coalition.

As Iran makes its way to becoming the North Korea of the Middle East, Nasrallah is angry that Iran isn’t receiving support from his fellow anti-Israel terrorist groups.

But it makes sense, the Middle East is breaking back down into its traditional battle lines.

The Iranian Shi’ites and the Hezbollah Shi’ites are fighting against the Syrian citizens, who are mostly Sunnis.

Hamas and Fatah (Palestinian Authority) are mostly Sunnis, and they probably aren’t thrilled their fellow Sunnis are being killed by Shi’ites.

And as much as all the Muslim groups hate Israel, they hate each other even more.

So now, when the expansionist Islamic Republic of Iran starts openly trying to create their Shi’ite hegemony in the Middle East, backed by nuclear weapons, alliances will naturally shift from the convenient enemy (Israel) to the real enemy (their fellow Muslims).

Nasrallah is angry. But he shouldn’t be.

He’s just been locked in his bomb shelter so long he’s forgotten what the real world really about.

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has canceled his planned trip to a NATO conference in Europe, only a few hours away.

Israel’s security on the northern border has also been tightened following what was feared to be a terrorist infiltration Wednesday evening (Jan 21.)

Kibbutz security teams from Metulla to Malkiya combed the Ramim mountain range around 6 pm local time after five suspects were thought to have been spotted. Residents of communities in the area remained inside. Roads were sealed and IDF troops were sent to the area as well.

But after searching the area thoroughly, the IDF Spokesperson announced that no infiltration had occurred. Nevertheless, he asked residents to remain in their homes.

Tensions are rising in the wake of an attack on a Hezbollah convoy in Syria that killed six terrorists – including three commanders – and six members of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Among the Iranian dead was a general.

The helicopter air strike, which fired two missiles, has been attributed to Israel although there has been no confirmation by the IDF.

South of Israel, the Hamas terrorist organization is working hard to figure out how to get in on the action and create another two-front war, as it did with Hezbollah in 2006.

Elusive Gaza-based Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif wrote a condolence letter to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah commiserating over the recent attack.

“All of the forces of resistance must band together and unite against the Zionist enemy and its accomplices,” Deif reportedly wrote in the letter, Reuters reported. It was believed last summer that Deif had been eliminated by the IDF during its counter terror Operation Protective Edge, but despite conflicting reports Hamas has insisted since that day that Deif is still alive.

Likewise, Gaza’s de facto Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh also sent a letter to Nasrallah expressing his “deepest condolences,” according to Hezbollah-linked Al Manar TV. Haniyeh’s sorrow was to be conveyed to the “families of martyrs.”

Iran, which generously funds and equips both terrorist groups, has meanwhile warned Israel that “ruinous thunderbolts” await in the future.

The U.S. State Department has not been unmindful of these developments: a travel warning has been issued barring American foreign service personnel from approaching the northern borders with Lebanon and Syria. Nor can American public servants use public transportation anywhere in Israel at this time.

The terror stabbing attack Wednesday (Jan. 20) by a Palestinian Authority Arab man on a public bus in Tel Aviv has only exacerbated American administration fears about what lies ahead.

“Because of concerns about security on Israel’s northern borders, U.S. Government personnel are currently required to obtain advance approval if they wish to travel within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of the Lebanon border, or travel on or east of Route 98 in the Golan Heights,” the U.S. Embassy alert reads. Visitors from the United States have also been advised not to use public transportation in Israel.