The Israel-Lebanon border. Photo: Elad Siton via Wikimedia Commons.

The IDF is “operating under the radar to prevent Hezbollah from getting stronger,” Israel’s military chief told a key Knesset body on Wednesday, the Hebrew news site nrg reported.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot’s non-specific comment was made at a closed-door meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, amid reports that the Israeli Air Force had targeted a Hezbollah-bound arms shipment near the Syrian capital of Damascus overnight.

The Israeli military has reportedly conducted a number of such strikes in recent years to prevent the Lebanon-based Shiite terrorist group from receiving advanced weaponry. Iran-backed Hezbollah is a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s embattled regime.

Eizenkot, according to nrg, also told lawmakers on Wednesday that Hezbollah was facing a budgetary shortfall and a crisis of morale due to its ongoing involvement in the grinding military effort — led by Russia and Iran — to keep Assad in power.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s recent threat against vital infrastructure sites in the Jewish state, Eizekot said, were meant to deter Israel and maintain the status quo. Like Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Eizenkot assessed, Hezbollah was not interested in an escalation with Israel at this time.

Also on Wednesday, nrg reported, Hezbollah claimed to have uncovered spy gear said to have been planted by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon during the night.