ABSTRACT

Syria also steered clear of the 2006 hybrid war between Hezbollah and Israel, even though Syria supports Hezbollah. Despite the list of various confrontations, the border between Israel and Syria has remained calm, even in the absence of an official peace, up until the Syrian civil war. Assad lost much of the land he had controlled in Syria, but he held large parts in the west near the shoreline, along with major cities including the capital, Damascus. The Syrian military could have put at risk the Israelis, particularly the 20,000 people who live in the Golan Heights. Israel bombed nine targets inside Syria, all of them belonging to the Syrian military, including the headquarters of the Syrian 90th Brigade. It was the most severe Israeli response since the start of the Syrian civil war. Israel is much more exposed than Western states as, in contrast to them, it has a border with Syria.