Reuters
JERUSALEM
(AP) - Israel delivered its most severe warning yet to Syria's
new ruler, saying it holds President Bashar Assad directly
responsible for renewed Lebanese guerrilla attacks on the
Jewish state and will retaliate harshly.
Syria
has given Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas the green light
to carry out cross-border attacks, said Israel's deputy
defense minister, Ephraim Sneh.
``I
think that Bashar Assad is aware of the differences in strength
between Israel and Syria,'' Sneh told Israel's army radio.
``If there is a renewal of terrorist activity, we will stop
it immediately and through more severe actions.''
With
its warnings, Israel is apparently trying to prevent the
opening of a ``second front'' while battling the Palestinians
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Sneh
singled out Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, as
responsible for a spate of attacks along the Israeli-Lebanese
border, which included the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers
earlier this month.
The
daily Haaretz said Israel's military commanders would recommend
strikes on Syrian targets inside Lebanon if attacks along
the border continue.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak has tried to avoid a military
response that would escalate regional tensions, choosing
instead to use diplomatic channels to pressure Syria and
Lebanon to refrain from futher attacks.
Hezbollah
leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah ``has presented Ehud Barak
with a difficult dilemma: Respond and the region will boil
in anger; don't respond and the attacks will continue,''
said a Haaretz commentary.
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