by Chris Otton
JERUSALEM, Sept 8 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon poured cold water Wednesday on the prospects of a peace deal with Syria, accusing Damascus of "influencing terror" against the Jewish state by sheltering Hamas leaders.
Sharon said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post that recent reported declarations by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he wanted peace were a public relations gesture and he had to show real intent by shutting down the offices of hardline Palestinian factions based in Damascus.
"Syria is a factor which influences the terror against Israel," Sharon told the English-language daily.
"The headquarters for terrorist organizations -- Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front (for the Liberation of Palestine or PFLP), and a number of others -- operate in Damascus. The orders are given from there (for anti-Israeli attacks), and reports are sent back there."
Israel has threatened to target the foreign-based leaders of organisations such as the Islamist movement Hamas, which was behind a double suicide bombing last week that left 16 Israelis dead.
Sharon's comments also appeared to kill off prospects of progress towards peace with Syria, sparked by a report that Assad recently told visiting former US diplomats he was ready to resume negotiations with Israel if Sharon would similarly oblige.
"Syria is under US pressure today because of its position on Iraq, and because it allows terrorists to go through its territory on the way to Iraq," Sharon said.
"So it is clear to me that the Syrians, in order to make life easier for themselves, find it convenient to say there are contacts, negotiations."
Syria, meanwhile, took a swipe at Israel by blaming it for a UN Security Council resolution last week calling for Lebanon's sovereignty to be respected.
The UN vote was an implicit censure of Syria, which pressured Lebanese MPs into changing their constitution to allow pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud to remain in office beyond his original six-year term.
The vote was an opportunity for Israel to "intensify its threats against Syria under the pretext that (Syria) supports what (Israel) calls Palestinian terrorism," official Radio Damascus said.
Israel raised the stakes in its campaign against Hamas on Tuesday with a stunning air strike that killed 14 of the militant group's fighters while they were taking part in a training session in the eastern Gaza Strip.
Hamas promptly vowed to exact revenge on a scale comparable to the Beersheva attacks, while Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei said any retaliation would be "justified".
The attack brough a condemnation from the Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in Riyadh.
In an attempt to prevent Hamas firing more of its makeshift Qassam missiles into southern Israel, troops staged an incursion into the northern Gaza Strip.
About 20 tanks accompanied by bulldozers and backed by attack helicopters entered the eastern part of the town of Jabaliya and took up positions near the town of Beit Lahiya and on hills.
Seven Palestinians were wounded during the incursion, when troops opened fire at a group of stone-throwers, medical and security sources said.
However, even though troops had entered the area overnight, Palestinian militants managed to fire seven rockets Wednesday. They struck Israel's southern Negev desert without causing casualties, although a factory was reported damaged.
Troops with a bulldozer also encircled a house in the southern West Bank town of Hebron where clashes broke out as they arrested a senior Hamas member. The house was later razed by the army. Two soldiers were lightly wounded.
Meanwhile, senior security officials presented Sharon with a revised route of the controversial West Bank barrier.
The route had to be modified after a test case in late June, when the supreme court ruled that it currently infringes the fundamental rights of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Sharon said after Wednesday's meeting that the final modifications would be later put to his government for approval, his office reported.
Late Wednesday, Israel's second television channel reported that Sharon would also put the plan to a national referendum, as early as late November.
Public opinion polls show that more than 60 percent of Israelis and a majority of Likud supporters favour a pullout from Gaza.
The exact details of the new route were not revealed but it is understood that it brings parts closer to the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank.
On the Palestinian side, tensions between veteran leader Yasser Arafat and Qorei boiled over when the premier again threatened to quit. The pair are understood to have clashed over the timing of an international donors meeting in New York.
Qorei resigned on July 17 but retracted his offer 10 days later.