Evidence continues to mount that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) terror group has staked claims over territory that is mere miles from Israel’s territory in the Golan Heights, which borders southern Syria.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials said they are continuing to monitor the situation on the Golan border, according to reports from Israeli media.
Over the past several months, ISIS has maintained a continuing presence in the area, but now the Sunni terrorists are closer to sovereign Israel than ever before, Israeli Channel 2 News reports.
A spokesperson for ISIS even said, “Within a few days, we will conquer the Syrian border with Israel,” according to a video clip believed to be produced by the terror group. “Why are you fighting under an unknown flag? Why do you not adhere to the laws of Allah and fly his flag?” the ISIS fighter asked in the video.
With ISIS’s insurgency gaining a foothold in the Golan Heights, the terror group has become one of the many jihadist entities to maintain a presence on Israel’s borders.
An Israeli military spokesman told reporters this week that the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front was “on the fence” between Israel and Syria and that they are only “100 yards” from the Israeli side of the fence, the Times of Israel reported over the weekend.
Situated to the north of Israel is the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, which has sworn its allegiance to the annihilationist ideology of the Iranian regime under Ayatollah Khamenei. The Muslim Brotherhood-linked terror group Hamas–also an ally of Iran–remains the ruling entity in the Gaza Strip and has remained sworn to the destruction of Israel. The West Bank, controlled by the Palestinian Authority, is an area rife with radical jihadist elements. On Israel’s southwest border is the Sinai Peninsula, which has seen a growing number of Islamic State-affiliated entities infiltrating the territory.