DID ISRAEL ATTACK SYRIA ??

Did Israel target Syrian nuke sites or Iranian weapons sent to Hezbollah?

By Israel Insider staff September 12, 2007

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According to a Bush Administration official quoted by the New York Times, Israel has recently photographed possible nuclear sites in Syrian territory, the New York Times reported. "The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the source said. The reconnaissance may have prompted the mysterious foray into Syrian territory late last week, in which munitions were dropped, reported causing a "great hole" in the desert. According to the Times, American officials confirmed Tuesday that Israeli jets did indeed launch an air strike inside Syria, which Israel and American officials had refused to comment on until now. Israel also reportedly struck at least one target in northeastern Syria, the officials said, but they could not provide more details. U.S. government and military sources said they were "happy to have Israel convey to both Syria and Iran the message that they can get in and out and strike when necessary," Haaretz reported. The Nazareth-based Israeli Arab newspaper The Assennara, in its Wednesday edition, cited anonymous Israeli sources as saying that Israeli jets "bombed a Syrian-Iranian missile base in northern Syria that was financed by Iran... It appears that the base was completely destroyed." CNN, for its part, said that the air strike had targeted a weapons shipment from Syria to Hezbollah, or from Iran to Hezbollah, passing through Syria, the news agency quoted American officials as saying. "The Israeli government is very happy with the success of the operation," CNN reported, citing sources both in the United States and the region. North Korea condemned the air strike, saying it could undermine quiet and stability in the region. "This is a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea strongly denounces the above-said intrusion and extends full support and solidarity to the Syrian people in their just cause to defend the national security and the regional peace," he continued. Israeli officials are still keeping mum regarding the incident, as is the Arab world, much to Syria's chagrin.