Just the fact that al-Qaeda is operating freely literally on Israel’s border is bone chilling.

Via Times of Israel:

Al-Qaeda operatives fighting the Syrian regime have been watching and studying IDF patrols along the border with Israel, from only meters away on the other side of the fence.

Members of the al-Furqan group — affiliated with the global al-Qaeda organization which has acted in Yemen and Iraq — were filmed close to Israel’s border, out in the open, in footage screened by Israel’s Channel 10 on Tuesday night.

In a number of videos uploaded to the internet, the fighters can also be seen holding various munitions, including old anti-tank rockets and heavy machine guns.

Sources in the IDF believe the gunmen affiliated with these and other terror groups are currently preoccupied with fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime, and that if they plan on turning their focus on Israel they won’t do so before they have more control in Syria, the TV report said. Plainly, though, it added, the decades of relative quiet for Israel on its border with Syria are coming to an end, and a year from now, Israel might have to brace itself to thwart cross-border attacks.