After a day of rumors the Syrian military confirmed, on Wednesday 01/30/2013, Israeli jets have carried out an air strike on its territory and denied the reports that lorries carrying weapons bound for Lebanon were hit.

It said in a statement that the target was a military research centre Northwest of the capital Damascus, near Jamraya. Two people were killed and five injured in the attack, it said.

Lebanese security sources, Western diplomats and Syrian rebels said earlier an arms convoy was hit near Lebanon's border, near Zabadani, on Wednesday 01/30/2013 at about 02:0 AM.

The attack came as Israel voiced fears that Syrian missiles and chemical weapons could fall into the hands of militants such as Lebanon's Hizbullah. None of the reports can be verified although some well-placed diplomats and military sources say they would not be surprised if Israel had acted, given the recent instability in Syria. Israel and the US have declined to comment on the incident.

The Lebanese military and internal security forces have not officially confirmed the reports, but say there has been increased activity by Israeli warplanes over Lebanon in the past week, and particularly in recent hours.

The Syrian Army statement, quoted in Syria's official media, said: "Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence." The centre, in Jamraya was damaged in the attack, along with an adjacent building and a car park, the statement said.

It said that "armed terrorist gangs", a term the government uses to describe rebel groups, had tried and failed repeatedly to capture the same facility in recent months. The statement specifically denied reports that an arms convoy had been hit.

Hours earlier, unnamed Lebanese security sources reported that Israeli warplanes had struck lorries carrying missiles towards the Lebanese border. The Associated Press quoted a US official as saying the lorries were carrying Russian-made sophisticated SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. Correspondents say Israel fears that Lebanese Shia militant group Hizbullah could obtain anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, thus strengthening its ability to respond to Israeli air strikes.  Most of the Western media sources confirmed the attack was on the SA-17 anti aircraft missiles system and that the USA was informed shortly before the attack was carried out. Other reports suggested that the weapons hit were Yakhont anti-ship missiles or powerful Scud D ground-to-ground missiles.

* An Iranian independent news website reported, on 02/13/2013, g that a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard General Hassan Shateri was killed by "mercenaries of the Zionist regime," but provided no details about his death. General Hassan Shateri. whose real name was Hussam Hush Nawis, operated undercover, led the Al-Quds forces in Lebanon and oversaw Iranian-financed reconstruction projects there and was considered as the senior Iranian military delegate in Lebanon. He was allegedly killed in an ambush near Zabadani with his bodyguards by unidentified armed men. According to Tehran sources two of Shateri’s aides were also killed in the ambush set up by rebels cooperating with Israel.

The Syrian rebels Free Army and independent intelligence and security sources said.General Hassan Shater was actually killed in Jamarya in the Israeli strike while supervising the whole operation of smuggling sophisticated weapons from Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon. His funeral was attended by IRGC commander Mohammad Jafari, al-Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani and other Iranian officials.

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31/01/2013 06:59:23