DAMASCUS: Syria is bracing itself for “any eventuality” as the regime nervously eyes a relentless Israeli operation over the border in Lebanon and faces up to increasingly hostile US rhetoric.

“Syria is in confrontation with Israel. It is watching the situation and is ready to defend itself against any eventuality,” said Elias Murad, editor of the ruling Baath party newspaper Al-Baath.

He expressed fear of an “extension of the Israeli operation in the south of Lebanon or towards Syria,” a move that would open a third front on top of Israel’s continuing operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

An irate Israel has lumped Damascus together in an “axis of terror” with Iran over their backing for Hezbollah, whose capture of two Israeli soldiers sparked the Lebanon offensive that has already left more than 60 people dead.

The sabre rattling from Israel has been matched by comments from US President George W. Bush, already at odds with Damascus over its alleged role in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

“Syria needs to be held to account” over the dramatic escalation of violence in the Middle East, Bush said in Germany on Thursday. “President (Bashar al-) Assad needs to show some leadership towards peace.”

The Syrian newspaper ath-Thawra wrote that the only way to resolve the crisis was for Israel “to accept the conditions posed by the resistance”, referring to a prisoner exchange steadfastly rejected by the Jewish state.

The dramatic escalation in Lebanon has sparked fears of an even wider conflict and fellow US arch-foe Iran lost no time in saying it would stand behind its under-fire Arab ally in the event of any attack.

“If Israel commits another act of idiocy and attacks Syria, this will be the same as an aggression against the entire Islamic world and it will receive a stinging response,” said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.

“The Israeli aggressions are a result of the weakness of a puppet regime that is on its way towards disappearing,” he told Assad in a telephone conversation.

Israel has vowed to break Hezbollah and is also in open conflict in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian militant group Hamas, many of whose key leaders, like political supremo Khaled Meshaal, have found sanctuary in Syrian exile.

“The Hezbollah would not be able to operate in Lebanon without clear Syrian sponsorship,” fumed Israeli foreign ministry official Gideon Meir, branding Iran the militia’s “main benefactor”.

“Consequently, Israel views Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran as primary elements in the axis of terror and hate, threatening not only Israel but the entire world,” Meir added.

If Hezbollah has long-range rockets and “tries to hit Haifa with projectiles developed with Syria’s help, Israel has no choice but to hit Damascus,” Yuval Steinitz, the hawkish former chairman of the parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee said.

Last month, Israeli warplanes overflew Assad’s palace in northern Syria while the president was inside, an operation Syrian state television called an “aggressive act and an unacceptable provocation”.

Israeli General Ido Nehushtan said that while Israel “cannot allow Hezbollah to continue to benefit from Syrian and Iranian support... for the moment we are concentrating on Lebanon because we were attacked from Lebanon.”

US Syria expert Joshua Landis said that for all the US frustration with Syria, Damascus is feeling more confident than it has for years with the United States bogged down in Iraq and apparently failing to make headway with Iran.

“Syria is feeling strong. It can now go on the offensive. Damascus feels confident that Washington cannot counter-attack at this time. It has few arrows left in its quiver,” said the University of Oklahoma professor on his website.—AFP