Since the reported Israeli air strikes on Syria on May 3 and May 5, speculation has been rampant about whether Damascus will retaliate. Here is some of what has been said by Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli officials and assessments of their words and past deeds by actors close to the parties involved.

A few hours after Israel's May 5 attack, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad told CNN, “When they attack, this is a declaration of war. This is not something that is [new]. We dealt with this on several occasions, and we retaliated the way we wanted, and the retaliation was always painful to Israel, and they will suffer again.”

Speaking with AFP on May 7, Miqdad announced, “Syria will respond to the Israeli aggression and will choose the moment to do so.” He added, “It might not be immediate because Israel now is on high alert. We will wait but we will answer.”

On May 9, AFP reported Miqdad as saying, “The instruction has been made [to the army] to respond immediately to any new Israeli attack,… and our retaliation will be strong and painful. There is no way Syria will allow this to happen again.”