"If Israel Attacks Syria, We'll Retaliate"

Hizbullah: If Israel Attacks Syria, We'll Respond

Senior members of Lebanese, Palestinian organizations vow to stand by Damascus if Jewish state launches war.

'Doors will be open which have not been open before. Israel will pay a heavy price,' they warn

By Roee Nahmias
Published: 09.27.07, 22:32 / Israel News
Ynet

"If Israel dares to make an adventurous move against Syria, it will pay a heavy price," a member of Hizbulla's political council warned Thursday.

In an interview with the Nazareth-based Kul al-Arab newspaper scheduled to be published on Friday, Dr Ahmad Malli warned Israel against considering an attack on Syria, saying that the Lebanese organization would respond to such an offensive with full force.

"I believe that things have changed," Malli explained.

"The times when everyone was afraid of the Israeli threats are over. The Zionist entity knows more than anyone that the price of such adventurousness would be heavy, and the Israelis know the price more than anyone.

"Since 2006 we have begun a new stage in the Arab-Israeli conflict and have demonstrated this during the Israeli aggression in July (the Second Lebanon War). If anyone wants to make an adventurous move, it will baer responsibility for this aggression."

Asked whether he was referring to aggression both against Lebanon and against Syria, Malli replied, "We are all in one Middle East."

Ahmad Jibril, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also warned Thursday that if Israel attacked Syria or Hizbullah his organization would also respond.

In an interview with the al-Hadat newspaper, which is published in Arabic in the Galilee city of Tamra, Jibril warned that Israel planned to invade Syria in coordination with Arab countries.

The interview is scheduled to be published Friday.

According to Jibril, if such an attack takes place, Iran and Hizbullah will stand by Damascus and respond in full force.

"I believe that the Israelis and the Americans will carry out attacks against Syria as soon as possible, in other words in the near future. I do not reject the possibility that the Israeli aircraft will attack us – the Palestinians in Syria.

"I also do not reject the possibility that they will attack the Palestinian headquarters in Damascus. We, the Palestinians in Syria, will not stand idly by. We will be at the front posts. I also believe that Hizbullah will take part in this war," he said.

Jibril added that Israel's plan was to isolate Syria from Iran and the rest of its allies, after identifying it as the weakest link.

"I stress that the plan to isolate Syria will not go by easily," he declared.

"I am certain that this war will last for months and will open doors which have not been opened in the past."