Syria Condemns Israel for Air Assault Near Damascus

SANA, via European Pressphoto Agency

Rubble was cleared in an area near Damascus. The Syrian government said the attack "opened the door to all possibilities."

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian government publicly condemned Israel for a powerful air assault on military targets near Damascus early Sunday, saying it "opened the door to all possibilities," as fear spread throughout the region that the country's civil war could expand beyond its borders.

The attack, which sent brightly lighted columns of smoke and ash high into the night sky above the Syrian capital, struck several critical military facilities in some of the country's most tightly secured and strategic areas, killing dozens of elite troops stationed near the presidential palace, a high-ranking Syrian military official said in an interview.

Israel refused to confirm the attacks, the second in three days, and Israeli analysts said it was unlikely that Israel was seeking to intervene in the Syrian conflict. They said the attacks in all likelihood expanded and continued Israel's campaign to prevent the Syrian government from transferring weapons to Hezbollah, the Shiite militia and political party in neighboring Lebanon that is one of Israel's most dangerous foes.

Rebels, opposition activists and residents said the strikes hit bases of the elite Republican Guard and storehouses of long-range missiles, in addition to a military research center that American officials have called the country's main chemical weapons facility.

An American official said a more limited strike early Friday at Damascus International Airport was also meant to destroy weapons being sent from Iran to Hezbollah.

Concerns flared about whether Hezbollah might attack Israel in retaliation, possibly drawing Lebanon into the conflict. Israel deployed two of its Iron Dome missile-defense batteries in its northern cities. Iran's IRNA news agency said Israel could expect a "crushing" retaliation from Syria or "the resistance," meaning Hezbollah.

Analysts said Syria, weakened by the conflict, and Hezbollah, overstretched as it commits more forces to support the Syrian government, were unlikely to act, but they cautioned that a miscalculation by either side that set off an escalation could not be ruled out. And President Bashar al-Assad could choose to mount covert attacks on Israeli targets abroad, rather than engage its military directly.

One senior Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he did not think that Israel was entering a war with Syria and suggested that Syria was unlikely to respond. Mr. Assad "has his own problems," the official noted. "He doesn't need Israel in the mess."

In Washington, the reported Israeli attacks stoked debate about whether American-led airstrikes were the logical next step to cripple the ability of the Syrian president to counter the rebel forces or use chemical weapons. That was already being discussed in secret by the United States, Britain and France in the days leading to the Israeli strikes, according to American and foreign officials involved in the discussions, with a model being the opening days of the attacks on Libya that ultimately drove Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi from power.

Lawmakers from both parties urged President Obama to move toward arming the rebels. "The idea of getting weapons in — if we know the right people to get them — my guess is we will give them to them," Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The White House declined to say whether it believed Israel was responsible for the Damascus explosions, though other American officials said there was no plausible alternative, given the size and precision of the strikes. Josh Earnest, the deputy press secretary, echoed statements by Mr. Obama last week, saying "the Israelis are justifiably concerned about the threat posed by Hezbollah obtaining these advanced weapon systems."

The Syrian deputy foreign minister, speaking on CNN, called the strikes "an act of war." But the decision to blame Israel so publicly presented Mr. Assad with a difficult choice. He could retaliate against Israel and risk conflict with the region's strongest military — an option analysts called unlikely. Or he could refrain, in which case he risks appearing further weakened and hypocritical to supporters and opponents alike, many of whom are united in their antipathy for Israel.

"Why does the regime attack the rebels with Scuds and warplanes while it takes no action on the Israeli raids?" Basil, 35, who lives near the military research center, in Jamraya, asked as he and his wife swept broken glass from their house on Monday.

Noureddin, 50, a lawyer, lives in the Doumar Project neighborhood, where the blasts knocked kitchen crockery from shelves and drove residents into basements for shelter. Noureddin said the attack would anger members of Mr. Assad's Alawite sect, who make up the bulk of the military elite and his strongest base of support, already frustrated with their mounting death toll.

Reporting was contributed by an employee of The New York Times from Damascus, Syria, Hala Droubi from Dubai, Thomas Erdbrink from Tehran, Ben Hubbard from Cairo, Michael Schwirtz from New York and Hania Mourtada and Hwaida Saad from Beirut.

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