On Sunday, the IDF downed what appears to have been a drone that entered Israeli airspace from Syria. In the days beforehand, Israel reportedly carried out a particularly intense series of strikes on Iran-linked military positions in Syria. Yoav Limor puts these events in their wider context:
The shadow war between Israel and Iran has been ongoing for many years. However, it seems Iran has been increasing its pressure to act lately. This is demonstrated in almost every possible area: by its efforts to smuggle weapons into Syria and Lebanon; the attempt to harm Israelis and Jews in Athens (which was thwarted by a joint operation between the Mossad and the Greek security forces); by direct and indirect aid to Palestinian terror organizations; and by increasing activity in the northern arena—especially via Hizballah, which crossed a dangerous red line by apparently sending a terrorist from Lebanon to Israel to carry out an attack at the Megiddo Junction.
Those in the Israeli security forces think that this [upsurge in activity] results from Iran’s assumption that Israel is preoccupied with its internal problems (in light of the crisis caused by the judicial reform) and that Israel can now be challenged more than in the past. This premise is incorrect twofold: Israel’s security apparatus continues to operate as before to thwart terror activity, and an external crisis will actually unite Israeli society.
Therefore, Israel now wants to make clear to Hizballah and its Iranian benefactors that they are playing with fire. The two alleged Israeli strikes on Syria on Wednesday night and Thursday night will likely convey this exact message. Their target was Iranian weapons and infrastructure, and in the second attack, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard operative, Milad Heydari, was killed. . . . Another five Iranian operatives were killed along with him.
Read more on Israel Hayom: https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/04/02/the-message-to-the-iranians-you-are-playing-with-fire/