"When you look [around] today I think that a surprise war can be born in very many configurations," Major General Amir Eshel said at a conference near Tel Aviv.
In particular, the general stressed that if militant groups ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and seized the military power within the country, it could lead to a major conflict in the region.
"If Syria collapses tomorrow, we are liable to find ourselves in this stew very quickly and in a very big way," Eshel claimed.
"The enormous arsenal parked there... will be spread all over the place and you find yourself having to act on a very broad scale."
On Tuesday, Israeli chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz issued a personal warning, saying the Syrian leaders would “bear the consequences” in the event of further attacks on Israeli forces.
The threat followed the Syrian military firing across the armistice line on the Golan Heights, hitting an Israeli military vehicle.
The Syrian army said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the vehicle drove toward the village of Bir Ajam, located in the “liberated area of Syrian territories where there are armed terrorist groups.”
“Following that, the Israeli enemy fired two rockets from the occupied site of Tal al-Faras toward one of our sites in al-Zubaydiah site; no casualties reported,” the statement added.
Technically, the Zionist regime has been at war with Syria since it occupied 1,200 square kilometers of the Golan territory from its neighbor in the 1967 Six-Day War. Fourteen years later, Tel Aviv illegally annexed the land, though the move has never been recognized by the international community.
Tel Aviv maintains that its main concern is that Syria’s arsenal could be sent to the hands of rebel groups linked to Al-Qaeda. Israel reportedly conducted flights into Syria to get more information about Syria military equipment. However Tel Aviv has denied the flights took place.
However, this past week there have been three consecutive cross-border shootings, and the Israeli military is concerned by the incidents, according to Army Radio.