Israel sends troops to Syria and detains suspected ‘Iranian terror network agent’

The Israeli military announced on Sunday (November 3) that it has arrested a Syrian national who allegedly acted as an agent for Iranian intelligence, in an operation that reportedly took place earlier this year.

This is the first time in the current war that Israel has announced it will send troops to Syria.

The military said the man, identified as Ali Soleiman al-Assi, was an “Iranian terror network operative” and had been collecting information on the movements of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) near the Israeli-Syrian border. This was, Israel claims, connected to an Iranian network that orchestrated operations in southern Syria.

According to Israel, the capture of Al-Assi was a precursor to possible attacks.

“The operation of Israeli army forces to detain Al-Assi prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terrorist networks in the vicinity of the Golan Heights,” the Israeli army said in a statement .

When did the arrest take place?

Al-Assi, reportedly from Saida in southern Syria, is now being held in Israel for questioning.

Israeli authorities have shared few specific details about the exact timeline of Al-Assi’s detention, but said: “His activities include gathering intelligence on IDF (Israeli Military) forces in the border area for the network’s future terror activities .”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British watchdog, had reported in July an incident in which Israeli forces seized a Syrian man near the village of Al-Razatiya, close to the Golan Heights. The Observatory stated that the man, who worked as a driver, was allegedly taken by Israeli forces who crossed the border to detain him, and then transported to Israel.

“An Israeli force consisting of three cars and an armored vehicle crossed the border, entered the village and took the man to the occupied Golan Heights,” the war monitor said.

Israel has recently been engaged in an escalated, full-scale war with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. This comes after Hezbollah intensified its cross-border actions, which it claims are in support of Hamas. Hezbollah launched an extensive series of attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel last year, with activity increasing after Hamas’s major attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

(With input from agencies)