Israel- Syria conflict reaches a flashpoint

Clashes in Damascus after surprise opposition assault

Syria destined for Hezbollah, which fought a 2006 war with Israel and is now battling alongside the Damascus regime.

“Each time we discover arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon we will act to stop them. On this there will be no compromise,” Lieberman said Sunday.

“The Syrians must understand that they are held responsible for these arms transfers to Hezbollah and that if they continue to allow them then we will do what we have to do.”

Israel does not usually confirm or deny individual raids, but it may have been led to do so this time by the circumstances of the incident.

President Bashar Assad’s position has been strengthened in recent months with his forces reclaiming the whole of Syria’s second city Aleppo, as well as enjoying continued Russian support.

Lieberman said he did not wish “to interfere in the Syrian civil war or provoke a confrontation with the Russians” but that Israel’s security would remain his top priority.

Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 SixDay War and annexed it in 1981, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Israel and Syria are still technically at war, though the border had remained largely quiet for decades until 2011 when the Syrian conflict began.

Meanwhile, opposition fighters are reported to have detonated two large car bombs at 5:20 a.m. on Sunday morning close to the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus. Residents say artillery shells and rockets are landing inside the heart of the city.

Government warplanes responded with a number of raids around the areas of the clashes.