A senior official in the Iranian ministry of defense said that in view of Israel’s increased threats to Syria, Iran was interested in upgrading Syria’s aerial defense systems. The Washington Post reported that Iran and its allies were planning attacks on American armored vehicles in Syria. A Syrian news website reported the completion of an IRGC training course for Syrian fighters in the pro-Iranian militias in eastern Syria. At the end of May Iraq’s national security advisor arrived in Tehran for a visit, where he met with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. They discussed implementing the agreement for security along the Iraq-Iran border; the issue of border security was also discussed by the interior ministers of both countries.

An Egyptian border guard policeman infiltrated Israeli territory, and shot and killed two IDF fighters manning a guard post. Another fighter was killed during the pursuit of the shooter. The Palestinian terrorist organizations did not formally react to the attack, but the Palestinian media outlets issued a wide variety of joyous responses. This past week there were three terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria. Palestinians in Judea and Samaria continued throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles. The Gaza Strip remained relatively quiet. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) delegations are currently in Egypt. The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership held meetings with foreign diplomats.

Hezbollah celebrated its annual “Resistance and Liberation Day,” held to mark the IDF’s living south Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah secretary general, Hasan Nasrallah, gave a speech boasting of the organization’s military capabilities, stressing the concept of the “unity of the arenas” and threatening Israel with a battle on multiple fronts. Hezbollah held two military exercises in south Lebanon to demonstrate its capabilities. In the larger, more widely media-covered exercise, operatives using live ammunition simulated taking control of an IDF post or Israeli community and abducting IDF soldiers, and displayed the organization’s weapon Lebanese opposition sources criticized Hezbollah for holding the exercise. American sources reported Hezbollah operatives were undergoing training for an attack on American soldiers in Syria.

This week, there was a decline in ISIS’s activity around the world. The hotspot of the organization’s activity was in Africa. In Syria ISIS killed four fighters of the forces supporting the Syrian army in the desert area in two different attacks. A Russian colonel was killed by HTS artillery fire on the outskirts of Latakia. In Nigeria: ISIS continued its activity against the Nigerian army in the northeast of the country, albeit on a smaller scale than in recent weeks. In Congo: ISIS continued its activity against Christian residents near the Ugandan border. The editorial of ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba stresses that Syria’s return to the Arab League is not surprising “since he is no different from the other tyrants in that organization.” The writer calls on Muslims in Syria to adhere to the path of jihad and not to rely on “the Arab dictators” to rescue them.