Israel on Tuesday began to lift its strict veil of secrecy on an air strike in Syria last month, allowing the media to report on the raid without attributing such reports to foreign sources.

The censor did not release any other details for publication.

The censor's statement implied that Israel was, for the first time, confirming that the IAF carried out the raid.

Israel has kept quiet on the subject until now. However, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the BBC on Monday that IAF jets had hit an "unused military building" in his country.

Assad said Israel's air raid on northern Syria showed Israel's "visceral antipathy towards peace," according to excerpts posted on the BBC's Web site.



Comment: Very true!



The comments were the first by the Syrian leader about the incursion, which raised speculation that warplanes had hit weapons headed for Hizbullah or even a nascent nuclear installation - reports Damascus has repeatedly denied.



Comment: What is the connection between Assad's comments and raised speculation about the warplanes hitting a nuclear installation or weapons to Hizbullah?
Don't scratch your brain too much. There is no connection. It is just a way to add some propaganda into the malleable brains of the Jpost readers.



Journalists in Israel are required to submit articles related to security and military issues to the censor, which can make changes to stories or bar publication altogether. In a rare move, the censor's office issued a special directive about the Syrian air raid, specifically prohibiting publication of any details.

Violation of the censorship orders can result in the loss of press credentials or other sanctions.

Although Israel did not come out with an official statement following the incident, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu broke the silence two weeks afterwards when he said he had congratulated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the strike.

In an interview with Channel 1, Netanyahu said that he was "part of the matter from the beginning" and that he knew to separate matters of national security from politics.

The overflight was first reported on Syrian television just after the attack, and various reports regarding the strike's target have circulated in the press over the past month.

The Washington Post reported that the target had been a facility involved in a joint Syrian-North Korean nuclear project - a claim backed by former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton.



Comment: Now and who did the Washington Post quote as their source? Oh, yes those anonymous Israeli officials. Those claims were not surprisingly backed by none other than Bolton, the face of evil, who has repeatedly called for bombing of Iran.



Britain's Sunday Times, meanwhile, reported just over a week ago that soldiers from the IDF's elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) had seized North Korean nuclear material from a secret Syrian military installation before it was bombed by IAF jets.



Comment: More bogus propaganda about nuclear material. A couple of days ago, Bush agreed to give North Korea $25 million in oil aid, because it had kept it's part of the bargain regarding decommissioning it's nuclear program. Had there been any proof of North Korea giving or aiding Syria with nuclear material, then that would have been a breach of the bargain.



The paper claimed that the IAF attack on September 6 was sanctioned by the US after the Americans were given proof that the material was indeed nuclear-related. It also stated that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who used to head the unit, personally oversaw the operation.

However, Syrian officials have repeatedly called news of the strike lies and fabrications, and on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused the US of inventing these reports.



Comment: In this matter the Syrians are spot on.



"Some sources in the United States have spread rumors and fabricated news in order to justify this act of aggression," Moallem charged. "By distorting the facts they have become Israel's accomplices in this act of aggression."
Speaking to the UN, Moallem said the act was proof that the Jewish state wanted to escalate tensions.

Yaakov Katz and AP contributed to this report.