Surprise Israeli military drill on Syrian, Lebanese borders. Reservists mobilized

DEBKAfile Special Report April 30, 2013, 4:01 PM (GMT+02:00)

Tags:  IDF,  military exercises,  Syria,  Lebanon,  US military action,  chemical weapons,

Israel's Golan border with Syria

Israel’s armed forces launched a snap division-scale drill along the full length of the Syrian and Lebanese borders Tuesday, April 30, with call-up orders for thousands of reservists, debkafile’s military sources report.

The exercise will last up to week’s end.

It was taken into account that the unannounced exercise would send military tensions shooting up on the volatile Israeli, Jordanian, Syrian and Lebanese borders. Moscow, Tehran, Damascus and Hizballah headquarters would assume that Israel is massing troops in advance of US military intervention in Syria.

Its timing is also connected to the speech Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to deliver Tuesday night in case he announces military steps against Israel.

Our Washington sources report that President Barack Obama is poised for a momentous decision on whether to pursue military action against Syrian military targets, including Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons facilities.

These appear to be his three primary options:

1. An American aerial bombardment of the Syrian military bases and facilities which are the mainstay which keep Bashar Assad in power;

2.  A missile strike on his chemical weapons from the sea and from ground bases in Europe and the Middle East;

3.  The deployment of 20,000 American troops to the Jordanian-Syrian frontier.

Alternatively, Obama may choose to combine elements of all three options and activate them simultaneously.

The surprise Israeli military exercise and concentration of reserve units along the borders of Syria and Lebanon place the IDF including its air and naval branches on the ready for a role in a potential American military operation against Syria.

The Israeli military also stands prepared to repel possible reprisals by Iran, Syria or Hizballah against US, Jordanian or Israeli troops.