Israeli warplanes carried out overnight sorties up until Wednesday, Jan. 30 against missile and arms convoys standing ready in southern Syria for transfer to Hizballah in Lebanon, according to Western sources.. debkafile’s military sources report that the consignments were destroyed. The Lebanese army reported the heavy presence of an approximate 12 Israeli jets over its territory during the night up until 0200 hours Wednesday. Our sources report that it was suspected in Israel that Syria and Hizballah would take advantage of the rainy and overcast weather conditions in the last 24 hours to push advance weapons systems across the border from Syria into Lebanon.

The operation aimed at giving teeth to Israel’s longstanding threat ever since 2011 to hit military targets in Syria if necessary to prevent the handover of sophisticated missiles to Hizballah.  It also underlined the warning that Israel was ready to take action again in the event of Syria’s chemical weapons or any kind of nerve gas weapons being used and to make sure they never reached the hands of Hizballah or any other terrorist groups.

Tuesday, Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel warned that Syria is falling apart and no one knows what the next day may bring: “War may not break out tomorrow,” he said, “but we stand ready for any eventuality.”

Last week, Israeli posted two Iron Dome anti-missile batteries near its northern border and in Haifa.