Iranian proxies have reportedly returned to southern Syria dressed in Syrian army uniforms and under Syrian flags – that in spite of an understanding reached between Jerusalem and Moscow on a full Iranian withdrawal from Syria’s border region with Israel and Jordan. In a report published by the Wall Street Journal, senior Syrian rebel officials were quoted as accusing the Shi’ite militias, including Hezbollah and others, of disguising themselves as Syrian military forces, seeking to avoid Israeli airstrikes. A senior Israeli military official told TV7 that Israel was full aware of everything happening in Syria and is monitoring closely the developments along its northern frontier, in the war-torn country. The official further underscored remarks mentioned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which “Israel will use all means necessary to thwart Iran’s entrenchment in Syria,” a statement the official stressed “Iran should not take lightly.”
Meanwhile, a video released by the Central Military Media purported to show the Syrian army and its Iran-backed allies operating in the northeastern countryside of As-Suwayda. The area, which is situated in the southeast of the Syrian desert and known as the Badia, has become an important front in Syria’s civil war – as forces loyal to Damascus and Islamist militias are currently competing to capture lands formerly held by the Islamic State, which is continually retreating as it comes under intense attacks in Iraq and along Syria’s Euphrates basin. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in recent days, Regime forces managed to retrieve many territories, as Assad’s forces are advancing on the expense of the Islamic State.