A reported Israeli airstrike on a military research facility near Damascus last week was aimed at destabilizing and weakening Syria, President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday, dpa reported.
"This aggression exposes the real role being undertaken by Israel in collaboration with hostile external powers and their tools on the Syrian land to destabilize Syria and weaken it," state-run SANA news agency quoted al-Assad as saying.
He stressed that Syria was capable of "repelling any aggression targeting the Syrian people, thanks to ... the might of the Syrian army and Syria's adherence to the path of resistance."
Al-Assad spoke during a meeting in Damascus with Saeed Jalili, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Syria said on Wednesday Israeli jets hit a military research centre near Damascus, but denied reports that the target of the raid was a convoy carrying weapons for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Israel has made no direct comment on the alleged attack, which Syria said killed two people and wounded five other. Israel made no direct comment on the alleged attack.