In an interview with CNN,
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad said the attack represented an
alliance between Islamic terrorists and Israel.
He added that Syria would retaliate against Israel in its own time and way.
Early Sunday morning, a
series of massive explosions illuminated the predawn sky in Damascus,
prompting more claims that Israel has launched attacks into the war-torn
country.
Syria accused Israel of
firing rockets into the Damascus suburb of Jamraya, striking the
research center, Syrian state-run TV reported. The report claimed that
the rocket attack on the research center aided rebels, who have been
battling government forces in the region.
The Israeli military would not confirm nor deny the Syrian TV claim that Israel had launched rockets.
"We do not comment on these reports at all," an Israeli military spokesperson said.
An Israeli Army official told CNN that two rocket interception batteries have been deployed to northern Israel.
The report comes shortly
after U.S. officials first told CNN that the United States believes
Israel conducted an airstrike against Syria. Two U.S. officials told CNN
on Friday that Israel apparently launched an airstrike into Syria
on Thursday or Friday. Based on initial information, the United States
does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct
the strike.
The Israeli military did
not comment on the U.S. claim of an airstrike. But Israel has long said
it would target any transfer of weapons to Hezbollah or other terrorist
groups, as well as at any effort to smuggle Syrian weapons into Lebanon
that could threaten Israel.
"We are watching
everything when it comes to the movement of these types of weapons. We
have the means to do that," a senior Israeli defense official told CNN's
Sara Sidner on Sunday. The official is not authorized to speak to the
media.
Shaul Mofaz, a lawmaker
with Israel's Knesset, told Israeli Army Radio that Israel isn't
meddling with Syria's civil war. But Israel must protect itself from
Lebanese militants, he said.
"For Israel, it is very important that the front group for Iran, which is in Lebanon, needs to be stopped," Mofaz said.
"Everything that goes
into the hands of Hezbollah is not directly related to the rebels.
Israel never interfered in the past or today in their actions.
Nevertheless, I need to say that Hezbollah is deeply involved up to its
neck in what is happening in Syria. Hezbollah helps the Iranians
navigate against the rebels."
Neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese government commented immediately after Sunday's claims.
Syria: Israel has targeted the defense facility before
Sunday's report is the second claim by Syria this year of a strike against the government defense research facility,
In January, reports
surfaced that Israeli warplanes targeted the Jamraya research facility.
The Syrian government has said that airstrike killed two workers and
injured five others.
A U.S. official told CNN
at the time the Syrian claims were false. The official said Israeli
fighter jets targeted a Syrian government convoy carrying surface-to-air
missiles bound for Hezbollah. But Syria denied there were such
shipments.
Lebanon reports Israeli warplanes overhead
Claims of Israeli
foreign presence was not limited to Syria; the Lebanese army said Israel
flew warplanes over Lebanon on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Lebanese President Gen.
Michel Sleiman condemned the violations as "an attempt to shaken
Lebanese stability," the state-run National News Agency reported
Saturday.
The Israeli military had
no comment on the Lebanese claim. But an Israeli defense source said,
"We will do whatever is necessary to stop the transfer of weapons from
Syria to terrorist organizations. We have done it in the past, and we
will do it if necessary the future."
Sectarian violence continues
The latest report of
rocket attacks comes as sectarian violence erupted in northwestern
Syria. Three consecutive days of killing by mostly Alawite forces have
left hundreds of predominantly Sunni residents dead, opposition groups
said Saturday.
State media have said
their forces were seeking only to clear the area of "terrorists," the
term they have routinely used when referring to rebel forces.
But the U.S. State
Department said it was "appalled by horrific reports that more than 100
people were killed May 2" in Beyda, a suburb of Baniyas.
Several opposition
groups said largely Alawite regime forces used tanks, battleships and
missile launchers to target largely Sunni neighborhoods in and around
the coastal city of Baniyas.
Government forces killed
at least 200 people on Friday and Saturday in Baniyas and its suburbs,
the opposition Local Coordination Committees said Saturday.
But reliable information has been difficult to obtain because government forces controlled access to the village, the LCC said.
A graphic video posted
by activists who said it was shot in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood
showed people, including an infant, lying lifeless on the ground. Many
bore what appeared to be bullet wounds, and some appeared burned.
CNN has not been able to
confirm the video's authenticity, as access to Syrian war zones has
been severely limited by the government.
State-run Syrian TV
reported that government troops and the National Defense militia -- an
armed Alawite group loyal to the government, "have cleaned the area from
armed terrorists" after "they burned civilians' homes and terrorized
the population." The report was supported by interviews with members of
the Syrian army.
U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters on Friday that he did not foresee a scenario of "American boots on the ground in Syria" that would be good for that country or the region. Obama said other leaders in the region want to see al-Assad out of power.
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