Israeli Warplanes Fly over Lebanon Again
Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon Friday, two days after an airstrike near Damascus, as Syria's army chief of staff warned against testing his country's capabilities.
Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub made his comments Thursday during a visit to some military units in the country. The al-Baath newspaper, the mouthpiece of President Bashar Assad's ruling party, quoted Ayoub as saying Syria will never change its stance "no matter how much the enemy carries out provocative and hostile acts."
The latest overflights came after officials said Israel launched a rare airstrike Wednesday inside Syria, targeting a convoy carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hizbullah.
Israeli planes frequently overfly south Lebanon, and Beirut often files complaints with the U.N. over the incursions into its airspace.
The Syrian military denied that the target of the attack was a weapons convoy. It said low-flying Israeli jets crossed into the country over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and bombed a scientific research center.
According to a U.S. official, the Israeli airstrikes targeted trucks containing SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. The trucks were next to the research center the Syrians identified, and the strikes hit both the trucks and the facility.
The facility is in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus, about 15 kilometers from the Lebanese.
Ayoub, the Syrian military commander, said the "battle with the Zionist enemy continues and did not stop." He said rebel gunmen fighting against his troops are "tools of the Zionist entity." Israel and Syria have been bitter enemies for six decades.
The uprising against Assad began in March 2011 with pro-reform protests and developed into a civil war. The Syrian government says there is no uprising in Syria but a conspiracy against the country because of its support of anti-Israeli groups.
"We know our capabilities and readiness to use all these capabilities at the suitable time," Ayoub said. "Those who think they can test our armed forces are mistaken."
In Lebanon, the security official said the Israeli fighter planes were seen heading from southern Lebanon toward the eastern Bekaa Valley that borders Syria.
Butros Wanna, a resident in the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, said Israeli flights have been intense for the past four days.
"There is something not normal going on. Warplanes are always in the air," said Wanna.
Source: Associated Press
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