Israel working to thwart Hezbollah WMD transfer: defense minister

Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Israel was working to prevent Hezbollah from transferring advanced weapons from Syria to its headquarters in Lebanon.

The minister made the remark in the wake of a missile attack near a military airbase in the capital Damascus, blamed by a Syrian army official as an Israeli attack.

During a meeting with the European Union ambassadors to Israel, Lieberman stated that Israel acts "primarily to protect the safety of our citizens and defend our sovereignty, and we're trying to prevent the smuggling of sophisticated weapons, military equipment and weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Hezbollah."

Lieberman reiterated that Israel has no intention of intervening in the ongoing war in Syria but noted his position is that under any accord reached to end the conflict, "the Iranians and (Syrian President Bashar) Assad must be out of Syria and cannot be part of the agreement."

It was a rare comment as Israel usually mums about its alleged attacks in the neighboring Syria.

Earlier on Wednesday, a statement by the Syrian army said that Israel fired surface-to-surface missiles from Israel, landing in the vicinity of the Mazzeh airbase, a major airbase west of Damascus.

The missile attack ignited a fire in the area without injuries, said the statement.

It charged that the Israeli attack is another attempt to improve the morale of terrorist groups, supported by Israel.

It was the second Israeli strike in less than 10 days, as on Nov. 30, Israeli warplanes fired rockets on military posts in western Damascus, damaging property, according to a military statement.

Israel often justifies its strikes as either in retaliation to stray fire, targeting areas under its control in the Golan Heights area, or as strikes targeting posts of the Lebanese Hezbollah group in Syria. Endit