�Israel used depleted uranium shells in air strike� � Syrian source
RT
May 6, 2013
Israel used �a new type of weapon�, a senior official at the Syrian military facility that came under attack from the Israeli Air Force told RT.
�When the explosion happened it felt like an earthquake,� said the source, who was present near the attack site on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday morning.
�Then a giant golden mushroom of fire appeared. This tells us that Israel used depleted uranium shells.�
Depleted uranium is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process that creates nuclear weapons, and was first used by the US in the Gulf conflict of 1991. Unlike the radioactive materials used in nuclear weapons, depleted uranium is not valued for its explosiveness, but for its toughness � it is 2.5 times as dense as steel � which allows it to penetrate heavy protection.
Countries using depleted uranium weapons insist that the material is toxic, but not dangerously radioactive, as long as it remains outside the body.
The source also claims the attack � if it managed to hit the objects it targeted � served more of a political than a military purpose.
�Several civilian factories and buildings were destroyed. The target was just an ordinary weapons warehouse. The bombing is an ultimatum to us � it had no strategic motivation.�
Western intelligence sources told the media that the strikes targeted transfers of weapons from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which is sympathetic to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The official who spoke to RT denies this.
�There was no valuable equipment at the site. It was all removed after a previous attack on the facility. The military losses from this are negligible.�
Report: Strike killed elite troops, hit chemical facility
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4376483,00.html
Report: Assad says another Israeli strike will declare war
By JPOST.COM STAFF
05/06/2013 11:18
Any further Israeli aggressions on Syrian territory would issue a declaration of war, Syrian President Bashar Assad said according to a source Monday in the Kuwait daily Alrai.
According to the report, Assad notified Washington via Moscow that orders had been given to allow deployed ground-to-ground and ground-to-air missile batteries to be used against Israel without advance notice in the event of another attack.
Syria: We'll 'Choose the Moment' to Hit Back
Syrian official says Damascus will respond to Israeli attacks against targets on its territory.
By Gil Ronen
5/6/2013, 1:43 PM
Damascus will respond to Israeli attacks against targets on its territory, but will "choose the moment" and may not do so immediately, a Syrian political official said on Monday.
"Syria will respond to the Israeli aggression and will choose the moment to do so," the official close to the regime, who was speaking from Damascus, told AFP in Beirut.
Syria responded earlier to the air strikes on military targets with a warning that the attack "opens the door to all possibilities."
"We will not accept to be humiliated," Syrian information minister Omran al-Zoubi said at an afternoon press conference, according to ABC News.
"We are all in a state of anger. We are abused by this attack," he added.