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Roundup: Syrian lawmaker defends Hezbollah attack on Israeli convoy

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

A Syrian lawmaker on Wednesday defended Hezbollah's targeting of an Israeli military convoy earlier in the day, saying the response was a normal retaliation to the latest Israeli attack that killed six Hezbollah fighters in Syria.

"The response by Hezbollah against the Israeli aggression is normal because it's the right of Hezbollah to respond against any aggression or escalation from the Israeli side, Sharif Shehadeh, a prominent legislator, told Xinhua during an interview Wednesday.

Hezbollah fighters attacked an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon earlier on Wednesday, leaving undisclosed number of causalities among the Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah said in a statement aired on its official mouthpiece, al-Manar TV, that "at 11:25 (Wednesday morning) the Qunaitera Martyrs unit targeted with appropriate missile weapons an Israeli military convoy consisting of several vehicles.

The attack was clearly Hezbollah's retaliation to the Israeli attack that targeted a group of Hezbollah fighters in Syria's southern province of Qunaitera, killing six of them.

The parliamentarian said that Israel, even though trying to drag the region into further chaos, doesn't have an interest in engaging in full-blown war.

The fresh attack on Wednesday also came a day after Israeli forces shelled Syrian military positions in Qunaitera, leaving only material losses, according to the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV.

The Israeli firing came after two rockets were launched from Syria and landed in open territories in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that "those who play with fire will be hit by fire," regarding the earlier rockets' attack.

He said Israel viewed the rockets attack severely and will "know how to defend itself" against those who "challenge us within our borders."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad recently accused Israel of aiding the al-Qaida-linked rebels in Syria, according to the state news agency SANA.

"They (Israelis) are supporting the rebels in Syria. It's very clear. Because whenever we make advances in some place, they attack in order to undermine the army," Assad told the U.S. Foreign Affairs magazine in an interview whose excerpts were made available by SANA on Sunday. Endit