Israel said on Friday that Syria had positioned along its border with the Jewish state thousands of medium- and long-range rockets capable of striking major town across the north of the country, the same day the European Union (EU) confirmed that its foreign policy chief was preparing to visit Damascus. Talking to AFP on condition of anonymity, Israeli military and government sources said that the Jewish state viewed the Syrian deployment, coupled with other recent reports of troop mobilisation, as an indication that Damascus might be preparing for future “low intensity warfare” against Israel. “We have noticed that in recent months Syria has deployed hundreds, possibly thousands, of medium- and long-range rockets along the border (with Israel),” one military source said. “Many of the rockets are hidden in underground chambers and in camouflaged silos, which make them very difficult to locate,” the source added.
The sources, three of whom were from the military and two from the government, said that Syria had built a system of fortified underground tunnels along its border with Israel, which they said posed “a real strategic threat” to the Jewish state.