Israel's demining near Golan Heights signals wider front against Hezbollah: Reuters

In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering its own defenses, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarized strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.

The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon's border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoiter the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.

While demining activity has been reported, sources who spoke to Reuters - including a Syrian soldier stationed in south Syria, a Lebanese security official and a U.N. peacekeeping official - revealed additional unreported details that showed Israel was moving the fence separating the DMZ towards the Syrian side and digging more fortifications in the area.

Navvar Saban, a conflict analyst at the Istanbul-based Harmoon Center, said the operations in the Golan, a hilly, 1,200 square km (460 square mile) plateau that also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan, appeared to be an attempt to "prepare the groundwork" for a broader offensive in Lebanon.

"Everything happening in Syria is to serve Israel's strategy in Lebanon - hitting supply routes, hitting warehouses, hitting people linked to the supply lines to Hezbollah," he said.

Israel's mine removal and engineering works have accelerated in recent weeks, according to a Syrian intelligence officer, a Syrian soldier positioned in southern Syria, and three senior Lebanese security sources who spoke to Reuters for this story.

Reuters