Israeli Planes Buzz Home of Syrian Leader

Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks at the opening of the 4th General Conference of Arab Parties in Damascus in this Saturday, March 4, 2006 file photo. Lebanon is becoming a shelter for al-Qaida-linked militants fleeing across the Syrian border after a crackdown by authorities there, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published Monday. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, FILE) (Bassem Tellawi - AP)

He said the overflight "reflects Israel's failure and its domestic troubles, which it is trying to export to the outside as it makes accusations against others."

Wednesday's flyover was the second time Israel has buzzed Assad's summer palace. In August 2003, warplanes reportedly flew so low that windows in the palace shattered. At the time, Israel said the flyover was aimed at pressuring Assad to dismantle Palestinian militant groups based in his country.

In October 2003, an Israeli warplane bombed an Islamic Jihad training base deep in Syria. It was the first attack on Syrian soil in more than two decades.

The airstrike followed a suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad that killed 19 Israelis in a restaurant.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks.

The Syrian military rarely fires back on Israeli forces. The two militaries clashed in Lebanon in the 1980s during that country's civil war.

In 1996, Israeli warplanes raided positions in Beirut in response to rocket fire by the militant group Hezbollah. During those raids, Israel said Syrian air defenses fired on its planes, so the Israeli air force demolished a Syrian base.

But since then, the Syrians _ whose military is far outmatched by Israel's _ are not known to have fired on Israeli forces.

Wednesday's overflights came as Israel bombed Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, knocking out electricity and water supplies for most of its 1.3 million residents. Three bridges also were destroyed to keep militants from moving Shalit.

The Hamas-led Palestinian government and the militants holding Shalit called for a prisoner swap with Israel, saying the Gaza offensive would not secure the soldier's release.

Israel has refused to negotiate.

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Associated Press reporter Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.