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| US says Israel jets struck Syria | US says Israel jets struck Syria |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Israeli jets carried out an air strike in Syria last week, a US defence official has said. | Israeli jets carried out an air strike in Syria last week, a US defence official has said. |
| The official, who spoke anonymously, said he did not know the target of the alleged strike on Thursday. | The official, who spoke anonymously, said he did not know the target of the alleged strike on Thursday. |
| But he said he believed it was a warning to Syria not to re-arm Hezbollah in Lebanon, the AFP news agency reported. | |
| Damascus said it fired on Israeli jets after they entered northern Syria. Israel has not commented on the claims. | |
| Rising tensions | |
| "The Israelis are trying to tell the Syrians: 'Don't support a resurgence of Hezbollah in Lebanon,'" the US official said. | |
| The Syrian armed forces have a wide array of anti-aircraft weapons | |
| Some media reports said the target was a shipment of Iranian weapons being transferred through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. | |
| Damascus said last week the Israeli warplanes had violated Syrian airspace in the north of the country, describing the incident as a "hostile act". | |
| "Air defence units confronted them and forced them to leave after they dropped some ammunition in deserted areas without causing any human or material damage," a Syrian military spokesman said. | |
| Witnesses said the Israeli jets had been engaged by Syrian air defences in Tall al-Abyad, north of Raqqa and near the border with Turkey. | |
| Israel and Syria remain technically at war and tensions between them have been rising in recent months. | Israel and Syria remain technically at war and tensions between them have been rising in recent months. |
| Last summer, Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters fought a bitter 34-day conflict. |