... carried out after a sharp escalation in the conflict zone between Israel and Hezbollah. In recent weeks, Israel
has struck
a border checkpoint on the Syrian-Lebanese border and a number of sites on Syrian territory because Iran has been supplying arms to Hezbollah through the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Thus, even though Syrian authorities have no desire to be involved in a war, Syria could become a battleground for Iran or Israel to counter each other. The Israeli strike on the diplomatic quarter of Damascus in April of this year ...
... period between 2011 and 2015, has given Russia an unprecedented opportunity to launch a new phase in its foreign policy and bolster its position in the world.
Russia’s presence in Syria can thus be explained by the fact that it is difficult to involve Syria, Iran and Hezbollah in the following:
Direct military contact with Turkey, the United States and Israel.
The management of negotiations and settlements with armed groups and maintaining security in areas where settlements have been reached, such as Daraa and the ...
... New Escalation?"
On July 4, 2018, in Brussels hosted an international expert meeting focusing on "Israel, Iran and Hezbollah: Towards a New Escalation?"
The meeting was organized by the International Crisis Group (ICG), the Italian Institute ... ... issues were discussed in the course of the meeting: recent changes in the political and military situation in the southeast of Syria, positions of the participants in the conflict, scenarios of possible escalation, and the possibility of its prevention....
... strengthened al-Assad government remaining in power. That would be the best explanation for why it was recently revealed that Israel is arming some Sunni jihadist rebels. Israel is willing to ally itself with Salafist rebels in order to prevent the “Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah axis” from proclaiming victory in the Syrian Civil War. Whether this proves to be a wise decision for Israel, remains to be seen.
Russia’s Syrian Foreign Policy: The Israeli’s Vantage Point
Ruslan Mamedov:
Non-Governmental and Irregular ...
... important for the Syrian state to remain secular.
Iran’s interests are mainly connected with the opportunity to transport materiel and human resources via Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, in support of its immediate allies in the Islamic resistance (primarily Hezbollah). Tehran views Syria as the central piece in this allied structure. In the future, these countries might be used as transit states for Iranian oil and gas. There are, however, other motives behind Tehran’s activities, namely its desire to become an integral part of ...
... its units, improve the training and equipment of soldiers and, as a result, multiply their efficiency on the front lines and behind the lines.
As-Safir described the creation of the Fifth Corps as an example of close coordination between Russia, Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah. According to the newspaper, the main attack force of the Fifth Corps will include the best trained units of the Syrian army and pro-government paramilitary groups, such as Liwa Suqur al-Sahara (Desert Falcons) and Liwa al-Quds. Both groups ...
... basis) and the Pakistani Zeynabiyun.
Many of these foreign Shiite groups start to form “sister structures” in Syria – structures that are either directly connected to these groups or financed using Shiite funds. This is what forms the so-called “Syrian Hezbollah,” which
includes National Ideological Resistance forces
(local branches of the Lebanese Hezbollah) as well as the
Syrian Islamic Resistance Formation
, partly made up of local Syrian factions of Iraqi Shiite groups. These forces consist ...
... and one of its main thinkers, Naim Qassem, noted that the positions of Russia and Hezbollah have converged over the past ten years and that the two sides now interact in a number of different areas (link in Russian).
In terms of practical actions in Syria, Hezbollah has launched offensive ground operations for the first time in its history. Russia’s air operation in Syria and its close cooperation with the Syrian army have in turn led to
interaction
“on the ground” with the Party’s ...
... end of February in Washington (
Al-Monitor
, 25.02.2015
). However, the situation became even more complicated due to the “Israeli factor.” On January 18, 2015, well-planned Israeli airstrikes against a convoy in the Quneitra District of Syria injured many members of Hezbollah and killed some key personalities of its military wing, namely
Imad Mughniyeh’s
(who was killed in February 2008) son “Jawad” Jihad Mughniyeh and cousin Jihad Mustafa Badr Al Din, field commander Mohammad Issa (who goes by ...
