By Mario Abou Zeid, Al Jazeera

The long-planned spring battle of Qalamoun - between Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces on one hand, and Syrian rebels on the other hand - started last weekend. Though the Assad regime and Hezbollah are striving for a victory to regain momentum, it will be a lengthy and costly one that will further degrade their capabilities. Furthermore, it has exposed the reality of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Qalamoun; that it is operated by the Syrian regime's intelligence.

10-05-2015: In preparation for the post-Assad scenario in Syria, Israeli sources have confirmed that the Israeli military is set to launch attacks on “jihadist organisations” operating in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

Military affairs commentator Alon Ben-David confirmed that the Israeli army and air force are currently working on preparations for a strategy to defeat a range of jihadist organisations on the assumption that these organisations will turn their weapons on Israel after the fall of the Assad regime.

Hezbollah's al Manar TV has been tirelessly broadcasting triumphal reports of its 'victories' in the Qalamoun region of Damascus province in coordination with Assad's forces. The Tehran-backed militia's media arm hasn't, however, been reporting the less than dignified return to Lebanon of the heaped bodies of Hezbollah mercenaries, killed there while fighting for Assad and Tehran, in the backs of pick-up trucks, as shown in this photograph taken by activists in the area.

Photo from Ahmed Mansour

06-05-2015: The Tehran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah has officially opened an office on March 8th Street in Latakia in one of the regime stronghold city’s most affluent neighbourhoods, already recruiting dozens of regime officers, troops and Alawite supporters of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

A source close to the regime’s ‘Desert Hawks Brigade,’ led by Ayman Jaber, a relative of Assad, confirmed in a statement to Souria.net that “Hezbollah is currently working on rehabilitating the military units in the Syrian leadership and in the Shiite community in particular.”

Lebanon‬, 05-05-2015: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri attacked Hezbollah Tuesday over its preparations for an anticipated large-scale battle in Syria's Qalamoun region against Nusra-led rebels, saying the fight is meant to protect the Syrian government, and not Lebanon.

“Media channels and some leaders in Lebanon have been ringing the bells for the Qalamoun hills battle, while the Syrian regime is silent,” Hariri said in a statement released by his media office.

Zebdine‬, ‪‎Damascus‬ province, 04-05-2015: Syrian rebel forces in Zebdine have captured six Hezbollah mercenaries, as well as seizing a quantity of military equipment from the Lebanese militia members.

The Assad regime is now almost wholly reliant on Hezbollah and other Tehran-backed extremist foreign militias to fight for the regime.

Report from: Orient News

02-05-2015: According to media reports the badly-overstretched Hezbollah may be resorting to using child soldiers to compensate for growing losses in the many battles it is currently engaged in.

The use of child soldiers, even in auxiliary roles, underlines the extent to which the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group is being stretched in its unprecedented deployment throughout the Middle East as part of the spearhead of Iran’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy.