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Israel warplanes pound Syria, target Iranian missiles cargo

Beirut, May 5
Israel carried out its second air strike in days on Syria early on Sunday, a Western intelligence source said, in an attack that shook Damascus with a series of powerful blasts and drove columns of fire into the night sky.

Israel declined comment but Syria accused the Jewish state of striking a military facility just north of the capital - one which its jets had first targeted three months ago.

Iran, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an arch-enemy of Israel, urged states in the region to resist the Israeli attack. People living near the Jamraya base spoke of explosions over several hours in various places near Damascus, including a town housing senior officials. "Night turned into day," one man said.

The Western intelligence source told Reuters the operation hit Iranian-supplied missiles headed for Lebanon's Hezbollah, a similar target to the two previous strikes this year, which have been defended as justifiable by Israel's ally - the United States.

"In last night's attack, as in the previous one, what was attacked were stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hezbollah," the intelligence source said. An Israeli official had confirmed a similar raid on Friday.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah declined immediate comment. Video footage uploaded onto the Internet by activists showed a series of explosions.

One lit up the skyline of Damascus while another sent up a tower of flames and secondary blasts. Syrian state media accused Israel of attacking in response to Assad's forces' recent successes against rebels who, with Western approval, have been trying to topple him for two years.

In 40 years since a war with a Syria then ruled by Assad's father, Israel has been locked in a cold standoff with Damascus, fought Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and is threatening to attack Iran, accusing Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.

But it is wary of instability in Syria, has long viewed Hezbollah as the more immediate threat and has shown little enthusiasm for US and European calls for Assad's overthrow.

The raid follows intense debate in the United States over whether the use of chemical weapons by Syrian troops might push President Barack Obama to intervene more forcefully on the rebel side, but Western powers remain concerned at the presence of anti-Western Islamist fighters among Assad's opponents.

It was unclear whether Israel sought US approval for the action. In the past, officials have indicated that Israel sees a need only to inform Washington once a mission is under way.

At a routine public appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no direct reference to the strikes but spoke pointedly of his responsibility to ensure Israel's future. — Reuters

Big Strike

* Attack targeted missiles bound for Hezbollah, says Western source

* Syria says raid struck research facility hit in January

* Israel declines to comment, Netanyahu speaks of "security"

* Assad, Hezbollah ally Iran condemns attack