Barak: Israel may seize advanced weapons in Syria
Israel is preparing for a possible military intervention
in Syria in case the Syrian government hands missiles or chemical weapons to
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Friday.
"I have instructed the military to increase its
intelligence preparations and prepare what is needed so that ... (if necessary)
... we will be able to consider carrying out an operation," Barak said in
an interview on Channel 10 television.
"We are following ... the possible transfer of
advanced munitions systems, mainly anti-aircraft missiles or heavy
ground-to-ground missiles, but there could also be a possibility of the
transfer of chemical means (weapons) from Syria to Lebanon," he added.
"The moment (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad)
starts to fall we will conduct intelligence monitoring and will liaise with
other agencies," Barak said.
Hezbollah, which has in the past received military and
financial support from Syria and Iran, launched thousands of mainly short-range
rockets into Israel during Israel's 2006 offensive in southern Lebanon, but
some longer-range rockets reached central Israel.
Their border has largely remained quiet since then.
On Thursday, Barak toured the Golan Heights, a strategic
plateau that Israel captured from Syria in the Middle East war in 1967 and from
where it can monitor movements inside the territory of its northern foe.
Barak said Israeli troops were preparing to prevent an
influx of refugees into territory that Israel controls there.
"They (refugees) have not chosen to come close to
us, but in the event of the regime's downfall, which could happen..., (Israeli
forces) here are alert and ready, and if we have to stop waves of refugees, we
will stop them," Barak said.
Syrian rebels have assassinated four of Assad's closest
aides in Damascus and seized three border crossings with Iraq and Turkey this
week, putting the Syrian leader under greater pressure than at any time in the
16-month uprising against his rule.
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