JERUSALEM (Reuters):

Israel broke nearly a month of official silence and confirmed yesterday it carried out an air strike deep inside Syrian territory on September 6.

The incident stoked tensions between the long-time foes after months of speculation they could restart peace talks.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made it clear in a television interview broadcast on Monday that he had not ruled out a military response to the Israeli raid.

Confirm or deny

Israel had until now refused to confirm or deny that any air strike had taken place, though the incident was publicly confirmed by Syrian officials.

Israeli officials confirmed an air strike inside Syria on September 6, but military censors continued to censor other details, including what was targeted, and which forces took part in the operation.

Some U.S. officials have linked the raid to suspicions of secret nuclear cooperation between Syria and North Korea. Damascus and North Korea have denied any nuclear ties.

Other reports suggested the raid may have targeted Iranian arms bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla movement.

Syria has accused Israel of making excuses for war by spreading what it described as false reports that the air raid targeted a site linked to weapons of mass destruction.

In an interview with the BBC, Assad said the Israeli air raid showed Israel's "visceral antipathy towards peace".

He said Syria reserved the right to respond to the attack, identifying the target as an unused military building.

"Retaliate doesn't mean missile for missile and bomb for bomb. We have our means to retaliate, maybe politically, maybe in other ways. But we have the right to retaliate," he said.

Diplomats in Damascus said at least four Israeli warplanes crossed deep into Syria during last month's operation.

Syria and Israel are formally at war. Peace talks between them collapsed in 2000 over the scope of an Israeli pullout from the Gola a plateau which the Jewish state captured from Syria in 1967.