Israeli jets 'buzz' Syrian president's home

Israeli planes flew over the Syrian president's seaside home in northwestern Syria on June 29, military officials confirmed, citing a "direct link" between his government and Hamas. Israeli television reports said four planes were involved in the low-altitude flight, and that President Bashar al-Assad was there at the time. Syria confirmed that Israeli warplanes entered its airspace, but said its air defenses forced the Israeli aircraft to flee. State-run television called the Israeli action an "aggressive act and a provocation." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a veiled threat against Syria on July 4, vowing to strike "those who sponsor" the militants in the Gaza Strip. Since the capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit last week, Israel has made it clear that it holds Syria and Hamas' Syrian-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, responsible. Mashaal, the exiled Hamas political bureau chief widely believed by many Palestinians as well as Israel as having sanctioned the raid in which Shalit was abducted, is based in Damascus.