Implementing lessons from Oct 7 invasion, IDF accelerates building of security barrier on Syrian border to prevent infiltration by jihadists

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday the construction of a new “engineering barrier” along the border with Syria in the Golan Heights which the military has named “New East.” 

The construction started after the deployment of ground and air units to patrol the buffer zone within the Syrian Golan Heights. 

The IDF said troops were deployed from the 474th Brigade, who are focusing on intelligence gathering efforts, especially after reports of jihadist rebel groups seizing territory in the Syrian Golan Heights near the Israeli border. 

While the Israeli military had already started building the security barrier in the Golan Heights, it accelerated their efforts by adding new engineering features to the "dynamic barrier" along the border following the collapse of the Assad regime in order to block the scenario of an armed infiltration into Israel.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime to Turkish-backed rebel groups, several jihadist groups which had previously made agreements with Assad, reactivated and claimed to have seized several towns in the southwest border area. 

Additional engineering teams from other divisions have joined with the 210th Division to accelerate the work, which had started even before the renewal of hostilities in the Syrian Civil War. The objective of the new “dynamic barrier is to disrupt an infiltration attempt by terrorists in light off-road vehicles. 

The military said that tactical engineering lessons learned from the October 7 breach of the security barrier, are being implemented in the Golan. 

The work includes the refurbishing minefields in the demilitarized buffer zone, the placement of explosive devices, as well as the digging of deep trenches to make travel by vehicle more difficult. The IDF said it is prioritizing border areas closer to the more threatened Golan settlements and in areas with limited visibility, such as the hilly, mountainous region in northern Golan. 

The IDF entered the buffer zone the morning after the fall of Assad’s regime. While foreign reports claimed that tanks and infantry forces had seized position past Alpha Line on the Golan Heights, the IDF denied the reports. However, IAF fighter jets began a series of strikes around Damascus, aimed at destroying advanced weapon systems, munitions production facilities, and chemical weapons stores that could fall into the hands of the rebels or other jihadist groups. 

On Tuesday night, the IDF also disclosed that it had conducted strikes on Assad’s naval facilities in Latakia and Tartus, completely destroying the naval units there. The Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit also occupied the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, deploying troops to create a defensive buffer zone, reaching areas where Israeli soldiers have not reached since the Yom Kippur war in 1974. 

The military said that while "the IDF does not intervene in events taking place in Syria. The IDF will continue to act as necessary to maintain the buffer zone and protect the State of Israel and its citizens." 

Airstrikes in Syria continued overnight as the military worked to prevent arms transfers to Lebanon. The Syrian opposition-affiliated "Voice of the Capital" said that “Israel is systematically destroying all the brigades and battalions of the previous regime in southern Syria…any sites involved in producing, developing, or possessing weapons that could pose a threat to Israel.”