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Syrian rebels and a U.S. official cited by CNN said on Thursday that Israel had mounted a new attack on a Syrian military base, but the Israeli government declined to confirm a strike. The incursion took place as U.N.–Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi prepared to wrap up a regional tour to persuade Syrian parties to attend a proposed peace conference in Geneva.
CNN quoted an unidentified U.S. administration official as saying Israeli warplanes struck a Syrian base near the port of Latakia, targeting missiles that Israel thought might be transferred to armed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
One Syrian opposition source, a defector from air force intelligence with contacts in the Latakia region, said Israel struck a strategic missile battery near the village of Ain Shikak, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces kept long-range Russian missiles that are among their most powerful weapons.
"We're not commenting on these reports," an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman said. The government has not commented publicly on at least three attacks on Syria earlier this year.
One Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he thought that Israel had carried out such a strike. He stressed that he was not entirely certain, however.
Israel has repeatedly warned that it is prepared to use force to prevent advanced weapons, notably from Iran, from reaching Hezbollah, which hit northern Israel with hundreds of rockets during a monthlong war in 2006. Hezbollah is at odds with Israel over the Israeli Defense Force's military occupation of territory in southern Lebanon.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collates reports from opposition activists, said late on Wednesday that there was an explosion at an air defense base near Jableh, on the Mediterranean coast south of Latakia.
The Lebanese military said six Israeli jets flew over Lebanese territory on Wednesday. Israeli aerial incursions over Lebanon are frequent, but such high numbers have sometimes been indications of military strikes against Syria.
Former Syrian intelligence agent Afaq Ahmad, a defector now in exile in France, told Reuters that contacts of his in Syria, including in Latakia province, told him Russian-made ballistic missiles had been kept at the site that was attacked.
Noting Syria's failure to retaliate after previous Israeli actions, Ahmad said, "Israel knows Assad has lost the ability to respond ... So it has been engaging in unannounced attacks on the weapons that could pose the most threat in the hands of Assad or if they are transferred to Hezbollah."
Israel struck Syrian targets near Damascus in January and twice in May and was suspected of being behind the destruction of a naval installation near Latakia in July.
The Israeli government says Iran, a sponsor of both Assad and Hezbollah, is arming the Lebanese group. Israel, which sees Iran as bent on destroying it, has threatened to use force against an Iranian nuclear program, which Tehran denies is intended to produce atomic weapons.
Brahimi said Friday that a proposed Geneva peace conference to end the war in Syria could not be held without the participation of the opposition.
"If the opposition does not participate, there will be no Geneva conference," he said at a news conference in Damascus before returning to Beirut as part of his tour to garner support for the peace initiative backed by the U.S. and Russia.
"The participation of the opposition is essential, necessary and important," the veteran Algerian diplomat said, adding that the proposed conference was for Syrians and not for the international community.
The opposition is divided over whether to attend the long-delayed conference, which Russia and the U.S. first proposed in May.
"The opposition, whether the National Coalition or others, is trying to find a way to be represented," Brahimi said, referring to the main opposition bloc.
Rebels and the political opposition say that any negotiations should be based on the removal of Assad.
The coalition, which is under pressure from its Western and Arab backers to attend the Geneva talks, is to meet on Nov. 9 to decide whether to participate.
The Syrian government, meanwhile, has said it will not talk peace with the armed opposition, further slimming the possibility for talks to take place.
U.S., Russian and U.N. envoys are to meet in Geneva on Tuesday as part of preparations for talks.
Russia hopes the conference will be held before the end of this year, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
He appealed to both sides in Syria's civil war to compromise and criticized the opposition for demanding assurances of Assad's departure as a condition for the talks.
"It's a difficult process, and everyone must compromise, including opposition leaders and the Syrian government, of course," he told Reuters.
Russia has been Assad's most powerful backer during the two-and-a-half-year-old conflict, delivering weapons to the government and blocking three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at pressuring the Assad regime.
The Syrian war, which started with peaceful protests and gradually turned into a civil war, has claimed more than 100,000 lives, according to U.N.
Wire services
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