Lebanon and Syria fronts: Israel boosts air force and surveillance as border tensions deepen

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

Israeli Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman toured the northern border area overlooking Lebanon and Syria this week, describing it as "the October 6th concept zone."  

Along with the head of the Metula council, Lieberman claimed that across the fence, near the Lebanese town of Khiam, Hezbollah operates an active command post monitoring the Israeli border community of Metula.

The right-wing politician, who has long advocated for a new military confrontation with Hezbollah, kept his visit away from media cameras but released a recorded message warning that the situation in Lebanon and Syria reflects al-Qaeda and Hezbollah's growing military strength. He cautioned that the continuation of the current conditions poses increasing dangers for Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues extensive training and preparations for the possibility of renewed fighting along the Lebanese frontier. On Thursday, it announced plans to replace its entire fleet of Apache helicopters with new models and to double its number to improve rapid-response capability amid simultaneous threats.

An Israeli Air Force report described these efforts as part of a "defense concept revolution," aimed at enhancing countermeasures against potential commando infiltrations into northern Israeli towns.

The air force is also addressing one of the challenges encountered during the last war: the difficulty that helicopter pilots and drone operators faced in distinguishing between 'enemy' vehicles and those belonging to Israeli police or military units. 

To prevent such errors, marked targets have been placed along and within the northern border, with similar measures extended to the eastern frontier with Jordan and the West Bank's security zones.

As diplomatic efforts for a security agreement with Syria stall—with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa reportedly demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied after the Assad regime’s collapse—the Israeli army has intensified surveillance and intelligence operations along the Lebanon-Syria border to prevent arms smuggling.

At the same time, Israel has renewed its threats to broaden its strikes in Lebanon as part of a strategy to weaken Hezbollah's growing military capabilities.