Firing blind. They've lost their OP's, and they're shooting from longer range as they back up, hoping to get lucky without forward observation.
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent
Syria has placed its military at its highest state of alert in recent years, Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Chief Major General Amos Yadlin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday. Syrian forces do remain, however, on a defensive rather than offensive alert.
Yadlin emphasized that "neither Syria nor Israel are interested in a military clash but the situation is explosive and the events may potentially be incorrectly interpreted. This could entangle Syria up in a battle against us."
Hezbollah is interested in opening another front for Israel with Syria, Yadlin said. Hezbollah gunners are firing at the Golan Heights in an effort to embroil Syria in the fighting.
Yadlin noted that Syria, together with Iran, was Hezbollah's main weapons supplier during the past years. The missiles that killed Israelis in Haifa came from the Syrian military.
The Military Intelligence chief rejected assertions that the IDF was surprised by Hezbollah's level of preparedness in south Lebanon.
"There was no element of surprise in Hezbollah's deployment," Yadlin said. "During the past year, we passed intelligence assessments on to the decision-making level, including comprehensive information on long-range missiles supplied to Hezbollah."
Committee Chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima) supported Yadlin's assertions and said he was "insulted" during the past several days by media reports indicating Israel was surprised by Hezbollah.