FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU

Report: Syrians shoot at Israel

Lebanese sources predict provocation from Damascus

Published: 07/14/2006 at 1:35 PM

by Aaron Klein Email | Archive

Aaron Klein is WND's senior staff reporter and Jerusalem bureau chief. He also hosts "Aaron Klein Investigative Radio" on New York's WABC Radio. Follow Aaron on Twitter and Facebook.More ↓

HAIFA – While Israeli military sources in the Golan Heights are reporting Syrian military gunfire directed inside the Jewish state, Lebanese political sources are telling WND they expect a provocation of some kind from Damascus.

Israeli Defense Forces are attempting to determine the exact source of the gunfire. If the source cannot be determined, sources say, Israel may choose to ignore or officially deny it occurred in an effort to avoid widening what is rapidly becoming a regional conflict.

Meanwhile, Lebanese sources predict a small, limited provocation against Israel – perhaps a small skirmish or the use of Palestinian groups on the Syrian side of the border firing mortars under the direction of the Syrian army. It would not be a major attack, the sources say, just a minor provocation in conjunction with Iran to show Syria is in solidarity with Hezbollah and the Palestinians, who launched the original attacks against Israel on two fronts – Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a “fierce response.”

“If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response,” Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iranian state television as saying in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel has blamed Syria and Iran for the Hezbollah rocket attacks on towns and cities in northern Israel. In recent weeks, Israel has buzzed the palace of Assad with fighter-bombers as a warning against hostile actions.

Ahmadinejad has called repeatedly for the destruction of Israel – or for moving the Jewish state to Europe. Iran is believed to be developing a nuclear weapons program and has long-range missiles capable of striking the Jewish state.

Hezbollah rockets yesterday rained down on northern Israeli towns as the Jewish state’s warplanes carried out strategic strikes against the Hezbollah’s infrastructure and the Beirut International Airport. A total air and sea closure was imposed over Lebanon.

Hezbollah threatened to use longer range rockets against the major northern port city of Haifa, in which case military officials tell WND Israel would likely launch a major ground invasion inside Lebanon.

The fighting was instigated by a well-orchestrated Hezbollah attack against Israel’s northern border yesterday in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and three others were killed.

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