Recently, the defense establishment has identified an increase in attempts to expand the scope of weapons smuggling across the Syrian border into Lebanon, Channel 12 News reported.
According to a security source, Iran is behind the smuggling operations. Security agencies identify the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as responsible for financing and managing the operations on the ground, with the aim of transferring weapons directly into the hands of Hezbollah.
The smuggling is taking place as part of the terrorist organization's ongoing efforts to rebuild and rearm in Lebanon. A defense establishment source said: “Hezbollah is exploiting the ceasefire to strengthen itself and has therefore stepped up its attempts to smuggle weapons through Syria. We estimate that many shipments are succeeding without being detected."
Despite images and footage published in recent months showing weapons and military equipment seized by the Syrian and Lebanese armies, the assessment is that a significant amount of weaponry is making its way into Syrian territory and that these smuggling operations are evading detection.
In Israel, this is seen as one of the key reasons for maintaining freedom of action in Syria, as the identification of a major weapons shipment would provide justification for striking inside the country in order to thwart the threat.