DAMASCUS, Sept 2 (AFP) - Syria on Thursday rejected Israeli threats of military strikes against it and denied any involvement in deadly bomb attacks in southern Israel this week.
"The Israeli threats against Syria are not based on any evidence and are completely lacking in credibility," Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said, the official SANA news agency reported.
Israel has threatened to launch a military attack against Syria, accusing Damascus of being directly implicated in the double Hamas suicide bus bombings in the southern city of Beersheva on Tuesday that killed 16 people.
"(Such menaces) raise tensions in the region," Shara said.
Israel's deputy defence minister Zeev Boim dropped strong hints Thursday that a strike on targets in neighbouring Syria -- which is still technically at war with the Jewish state -- could be imminent.
"It is possible to launch operations, provided that the targets are well chosen and that the moment is right, in order to make the Syrians understand that there are red lines that cannot be crossed," he said.
Responsibility for the Beersheva attack was claimed by the radical Islamist movement Hamas whose senior leader, Khaled Meshaal, is based in Damascus.