Maariv: Israel makes dramatic decision on Ahmed al Sharaa

In a report, Israeli Maariv newspaper military correspondent Avi Ashkenazi said that the battle over Syria is taking a new direction, referring to a dramatic decision taken by Israel regarding Syrian transitional President Ahmed al Sharaa.

Maariv reported that Israel and the United States are concerned about the situation in Syria, while the Israeli army awaits the decisions that will result from the upcoming summit in Florida, between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.

According to the Israeli newspaper’s report, the reality in the Middle East has recently become almost imaginary.

In recent days, the US military has attacked ISIS strongholds in Idlib, Syria.

The attacks were very strong, and the United States said they came in response to the incident a week ago, when an ISIS ambush of a US military patrol in eastern Syria killed two US soldiers and an American interpreter who was with the force.

In conjunction with the US move, IDF forces of the Golan Division operated in various areas of the southern Syrian Golan.

The IDF reported over the weekend that the forces of the 52nd Battalion, under the command of the 474th Golan Brigade, completed a night operation in the area of al Rafid (a village in the Quneitra governorate of the Golan Heights) during which they detained a suspect in terrorist activity operated by ISIS.

The operation was completed in cooperation with field investigators from Unit 504, and the suspect was transferred for investigation inside Israeli territory.

Ashkenazi said the United States and Israel are worried: “In recent days, the regime of the Syrian president has been facing a major test, with many cracks in its control inside Damascus and elsewhere in Syria… Among his followers, there are those who are trying to challenge the recent moves of Sharaa and its rapprochement with the West”.

According to the report, US and Israeli intelligence is seeing how ISIS is trying to rear-head in the south of the country, which could be destabilizing.

Currently, according to Maariv, there is only one agreement between Israel and the United States on military moves in the region, as the two countries are aware of the need to strengthen the position of President Sharaa in the face of threats that may undermine his rule, and also lead to regional destabilization and the re-strengthening of the Shiite axis: Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

It seems that the issue of Gaza has also been resolved, as its estimated in Israel that Hamas will move in the coming days against Islamic Jihad to retrieve the body of the last abductee, Master Sergeant Ran (Rani) Gvili, which will allow the beginning of the second phase of the agreement.

Ashkenazi explained that the IDF is currently waiting for the decisions that will be made in Florida next week.

For the IDF, it’s about the issue of Lebanon and Iran, and in the meantime, work is going on around the clock.

In the Military Intelligence Division (AMAN), in the Northern Command and the 91st Division, the work doesn’t stop for a moment.

As for Iran, the issue is different and more complicated, as the IDF is preparing operational plans for the attack, as well as for the defense of the home front, to prevent Iran from building an arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones (suicide and regular), and it seems that the IDF will demand in the next round against Iran that it be stripped of its missile capabilities, including the destruction of hundreds of platforms, missiles, production plants, and launch tunnels.