Reuters is reporting that Israel has deployed tanks along the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights, the first time they have done so in over 40 years. Officials cited fears of spillover from fighting on the Syrian side of the line.
For that justification to be true the timing is odd, as while there is still some fighting in the Syrian Golan it seems to have slowed down in the past several weeks, and no indication that the fighting is about to escalate there.
If anything, Syria’s civil war seems to be turning northward, with the battles mostly centering on the city of Homs and the northern Aleppo Province. Though both rebels and government remain in Golan, they seem to have stalemated and no villages have reported changing hands in quite some time.
Beyond that the main rebel faction in Golan, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, only last week issued a statement praising Israel and expressing gratitude for Israeli medical aid for wounded fighters. They also said that they would never clash with Israel, despite long-standing territorial disputes along the frontier.
Of course, there's a more logical reason for deploying tanks: Israel is preparing to attack Lebanon through Syrian territory and will require at least one military unit to counter Syrian forces while another Israeli unit traverses Syrian territory into the Bekaa Valley.
When this will happen is not clear, but is likely to occur by end of this year as the US and NATO finally get around to attacking Syria for a bogus "no fly" zone.