The European Union agreed on Monday to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist, a move driven by concerns over the Lebanese militant group\’s involvement in a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria and the Syrian war.
Syria’s military threatened Israel after reportedly capturing the town of Qusair on the Lebanon border.
Syria will “give Hezbollah everything” in recognition of its support and will follow the terror group’s model of “resistance” against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as saying, AFP reported.
Israel played down weekend air strikes close to Damascus reported to have killed dozens of Syrian soldiers, saying they were not aimed at influencing its neighbor\’s civil war but only at stopping Iranian missiles reaching Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has few good options for military retaliation after Israel\’s air strikes over the weekend but the attacks could redouble support from his regional allies Iran and Hezbollah.
Russia and China expressed alarm on Monday over the regional repercussions of two Israeli air raids on Syria, while Israel played down strikes which its officials said targeted Iranian missiles bound for Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
Twice in three days, Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace and fired on suspected weapons caches bound for Hezbollah — and nothing has happened in response.
Israel did not provide advance warning to the United States on its alleged Israeli airstrikes on Syria, a U.S. intelligence official said.
Israel could withstand any attack involving Syrian chemical weapons, an Israeli general said on Friday, adding it was improbable that Damascus would order such a strike.
Syrian President Bashar Assad is likely to run for re-election next year and win, with Syria remaining in military and political deadlock until then, said the deputy leader of Lebanon\’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.
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