Syrian authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell in the country's south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, accusing it of planning attacks on unspecified targets. The new authorities in Damascus, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, are hostile to the Lebanese group, which is a sworn enemy of Israel and fought on Assad's side during the Syrian civil war. Tuesday's announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections scheduled for late October. Syrian intelligence services and security forces "thwarted a sabotage plot in the Yarmuk basin in Daraa (province) and arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell composed of three individuals", Syrian state television reported, quoting a statement from the internal security forces. A suspect detained in the security operation. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X) The Yarmuk basin area, where state media has previously reported Israeli incursions and shelling, borders the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights, as well as Jordan. "The operation followed careful monitoring of an attempt by the cell to prepare rocket launch platforms with the aim of carrying out attacks to destabilize security and stability," the statement said. It did not specify the target of the alleged planned attacks and said investigations were ongoing. Syrian authorities have previously said they dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, accusations the group has denied. Authorities have also previously announced several seizures of weapons they said were bound for Hezbollah, which lost a key supply route from its backer Iran when Assad was toppled. In recent weeks, Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz have issued repeated warnings to Iran and Hezbollah promising retaliation in case of any attack. Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion. Suspects detained in the security operation. (Syrian Internal Security Forces on X) The latest war and a previous round of hostilities with Israel in 2023-2024 have weakened the group. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since Assad's ouster and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974. It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area. Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, a move only recognized by the United States and Colombia.
