Israel may feel need to strike Syria again

Syria's ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, said Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation.'' He told Hezbollah's al-Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant authorities to choose the time and place.

For now, Israeli officials seem to be playing down the threats.

"Israel took a big gamble out of the belief that Iran and Hezbollah won't retaliate. The question is,' Are they right or not?''' said Moshe Maoz, a professor emeritus at Hebrew University who specializes in Syria.

Officials believe that Assad's position in Syria is so precarious that he cannot risk opening a new front with Israel. With an estimated 60,000 Syrians killed in the civil war, Israeli officials also think it's too late for Assad to rally his bitterly divided nation behind him.

"Syria is in such a bad state right now that an Israeli retaliation to a Syrian action would be harsh and could topple the regime. Therefore Syria is not responding,'' Maoz said.

Israel is far more worried about the threat of sophisticated weapons reaching Hezbollah. In a monthlong 2006 war, Hezbollah fired some 4,000 rockets and missiles into Israel before the conflict ended in a stalemate. Israeli officials believe the guerrilla group has restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of missiles, some capable of striking deep inside the Jewish state.

Resigned to this fact, Israel has set a number of "red lines'' for Hezbollah that it says are unacceptable, in particular the acquisition of new weapons that it believes would change the balance of power in the region. These include chemical weapons and sophisticated anti-aircraft and surface-to-sea missiles.

This week's airstrike targeted trucks containing Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, according to a US official. The trucks were next to the military research facility identified by the Syrians, and the strike hit both the trucks and the facility, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the operation.

... contd.

ALSO READ

Chinese owner smashes up his $420k Maserati to protest poor customer service

Once a beacon, Barack Obama under fire over civil liberties

Infighting breaks out in Imran Khan's party over CM's post in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Nawaz Sharif reaches out to Imran Khan, wants to play 'friendly match'