While denying escalation with Syria, they prepare

[nebula]

Apr 2, 2008 8:50 | Updated Apr 3, 2008 10:17

Officials deny escalation with Syria

By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF

But then the report states:

Due to the increased tensions in the North as well as in the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has canceled a trip to Germany scheduled for next week, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Barak was to meet with German intelligence chiefs to discuss Iran's nuclear program and efforts in Berlin to mediate between Hizbullah and Israel regarding abducted IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, officials said.

Barak, who was to be accompanied by ministry director-general Pinhas Buchris, was also scheduled to meet with heads of parliamentary committees and pay a visit to the dock where Germany is building two Israeli Dolphin-class submarines. He was to sign an agreement concerning the submarines during his trip there.

On Wednesday, the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Damascus was preparing for a large-scale Israeli attack against Syria and Hizbullah and has begun increasing its presence along its border with Lebanon, as well as calling up reserve forces.

The paper claimed that Syria had also raised the alert level along its borders and had positioned three armored divisions, nine infantry brigades and special forces near the border with Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, fearing an Israeli infiltration there. This, the newspaper stated, would be a strategic spot for IDF ground forces to strike, as it both serves as a Hizbullah stronghold and would place troops in close range of Damascus.

Israeli defense officials confirmed the report and said Israel had noticed movement by Syria's military formation in recent days. The assessment in Israel, the officials stressed, was that the maneuvers were being done as part of a defense measure and out of fears that if Hizbullah attacked Israel in retaliation to the February assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, Israel would respond by attacking Syria.

In light of the escalation in tensions, Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel said Wednesday that if Israel were attacked by Syria or Hizbullah, the IDF's response would be "painful."

"I do not see a reason for unusual tension [along the border]," Harel said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. "Neither side has an interest in a military conflict. Anyone who wants to hurt Israel should remember that we are the strongest country in the region and the response will be painful."

Sources in Syria, quoted in the paper, said the nation's Interior Ministry would announce this weekend the results of its investigation into Mughniyeh's assassination. The report is likely to lay the blame on Mossad as well as certain Arab figures. The paper added that Hizbullah would refrain from avenging the assassination for the time being, so as not to give Israel "an excuse" to attack.

Full report here