Israel raids target in Syria after suicide bombing

JERUSALEM - Israel has launched its deepest air raid into Syria in 30 years, attacking what it said was a training camp for Palestinian militants after a suicide bomber killed 19 people in an Israeli restaurant.

The UN Security Council called an urgent session for 9am today (NZ time) at Syria's request after receiving a letter from Damascus describing the attack as "a grave escalation" of Middle East tensions.

The United States, which said Israel only told it of the raid several hours after it took place on Sunday, urged both Israel and Syria to do nothing that would heighten tensions or lead to hostilities in the Middle East.

Israel said its warplanes hit a training base used by "terror groups" including Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide attack on the eve of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday.

Israel said it did not intend to pick a fight with Damascus but wanted the air strike to serve as a warning to stop Palestinian militant groups operating on Syrian territory, an accusation consistently denied by the Damascus government.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara wrote to the United Nations saying Israel had struck a civilian site. But Damascus, still technically at war with Israel, would exercise restraint.

"The attack threatens security and peace in the region and internationally and could bring...dire consequences that would be hard to control," Shara said.

Syria's UN ambassador, Fayssal Mekdad, said he was asking the Security Council to insist Israel stopped such attacks, which he said violated "the norms of international law".

A man living in Ain Saheb village, 20 km northwest of Damascus, described the attack in the dead of night. "It felt like an earthquake," he said. "We heard three explosions then the door blew open."

It was the first time Israel had struck so far inside Syrian territory since the 1973 Middle East war, military commentators said.

Palestinian sources reported casualties, but there was no official confirmation.

The United States, main power and peace broker in the Middle East and sponsor of a "road map" plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace now derailed by persistent violence, urged both sides to avoid aggravating regional tensions.

"We have repeatedly told the government of Syria that it is on the wrong side in the war on terror and that it must stop harbouring terrorists. That is still our view," said a US administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"At this time we urge both Israel and Syria to avoid actions that heighten tensions or could lead to hostilities."

The official said Israel's government had informed Washington of the attack on a "terrorist training camp in Syria" several hours after the strike. "We are seeking full details," he said.

The surprise Israeli move came amid speculation that Israel would target Palestinian President Yasser Arafat -- whom it has threatened to exile -- after Saturday's suicide bombing. Arafat denies Israeli accusations that he is fomenting violence.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Arafat's expulsion would not serve the cause of peace. He accused Israel of trying to goad Palestinians into acts of violence.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa condemned the air strike and the bloc planned to meet in Cairo later in the day.

A female suicide bomber from Islamic Jihad killed 19 people in a beach restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Saturday, little more than 24 hours before the onset at sundown of Israel's solemn Yom Kippur fasting holiday.

Syria-based Palestinian groups have kept a low profile to reduce pressure on their hosts, who say the offices are media arms of organisations that include Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israeli analysts said Syria, already under US pressure to eject groups on Washington's list of terrorist organisations, was unlikely to hit back against Israel's superior military.

"It was a very clear, focused message...to (Syria) to start dismantling the terror organisations that operate from its territory," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Islamic Jihad issued a statement denying it had any training camps in Syria. The group and other Palestinian militant groups have waged a three-year-old uprising for statehood.

Violence continued in Palestinian territories on Sunday with a 26-year-old Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli forces during an operation in Rafah in the Gaza Strip during which they also razed greenhouses, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.

The army had no immediate comment. Israeli forces frequently raid Rafah to destroy what they describe as Palestinian weapons plants or tunnels used to smuggle in arms from nearby Egypt.

- REUTERS