The Israeli army is planning a military operation in the territories it occupies in southern Syria.

The Israeli military is planning a large-scale military operation in the territories it occupies in southern Syria, alleging that attacks similar to the October 7 Hamas attacks against settlements in the occupied Golan Heights and Israeli army positions and patrols are likely to be launched from this area by "global jihad activists and Bedouins."

According to a report published by the Walla website on Tuesday, the Israeli army is increasingly concerned about Iranian cells attempting to infiltrate the buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights (occupied by Israel since last December) to carry out attacks against Israeli forces, including by armed men in pickup trucks, similar to attacks on Bashar al-Assad's government institutions in the years preceding the fall of some of the areas under his control.

The report indicated that the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman) and Unit 504, which operates agents, "have recently intensified their operations in this area, through arrests in Syrian villages, some of which have been reported in the media."

The report quoted a senior Israeli officer as saying, "The numerous arrests in recent times have helped the IDF build a picture of the situation of terrorist cells. The Northern Command (of the IDF) conducted a training exercise for the 210th Division, in cooperation with defense and intervention units established during the war. The exercise simulated attempts to occupy Israeli towns."

The officer added that the forces had trained on how to direct warplanes to "launch attacks inside Israeli territory against terrorists who had penetrated," and that "we built an eastern barrier to prevent vehicles from crossing, and we built walls, ditches, and a missile line. Even if they try to penetrate using motorized parachutes, we are ready on the home front."

The officer continued, "My instructions to the brigades and battalions are not to wait for information, but to produce it. Your responsibility is to organize and organize the information. Today we have 1,100 fighters in various defensive units, who live in the towns (settlements in the Golan) and have machine guns, rifles, ammunition, and military equipment. These units have carried out four surprise exercises. We have an intervention unit of about 100 fighters from the Golan Heights, with high mobility, lethal capabilities, and most importantly, they know the area, and this includes operating drones," meaning small unmanned aerial vehicles.