Israel has warned Syrian President Bashar Assad that should Tel Aviv be attacked, then it will retaliate by bombing the Gaza Strip and the whole of Lebanon.

Israel’s NFC website reported that the Jewish state’s government relayed this message to the Syrian president through European intelligence circles.

An official source at the Syrian Foreign Ministry denied on Thursday media reports that a meeting was recently held between President Bashar Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, labeling them as untrue, reported the state news agency SANA.

The source said that the last meeting between the two officials took place in August, adding “no messages were conveyed from or to anyone during the meeting.”

Venezuela's firebrand President Hugo Chavez on Saturday reiterated his support for ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling them "brothers."

"I ask God for the life of our brother Gadhafi... No one knows where Gadhafi is, I think he went to the desert," Chavez told official television VTV.

Former Prime Minister Omar Karami voiced on Thursday his confidence that the Syrian leadership and people will overcome the current crisis Syria is going through.

He warned after holding talks in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad of attempts to “fragment the region.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad stated on Wednesday that Syria is keen on Lebanon’s stability and security, noting that the “painful events” that had taken place in Syria have come to an end.

He said after holding talks with former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss: “The Syrian cities that were targeted in the incidents have started to regain their stability.”

Syrian forces mounting raids on dissidents killed at least nine civilians on Tuesday, rights groups said, as Damascus accused the West of trying to break up the country with "total chaos."

And as China expressed its concern at the wider implications of the turbulence, the United States warned of signs that President Bashar al-Assad's opponents were turning to violence.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has unveiled that he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad twice in the past few days advising him to resort to a political solution to his country’s crisis.

Jumblat told al-Haqiqa talk show on Egypt’s Dream One TV aired Monday that he advised Assad to resolve the crisis in all ways except for “blood” because a bloody crackdown on protestors would lead to a regime collapse.

The United States is increasingly convinced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be overthrown and is preparing for a possibly violent aftermath, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said Washington is quietly working with Turkey to plan for a post-Assad future that could see Syria's various ethnic groups battle for control of the country, potentially destabilizing neighboring states.

Jordan's King Abdullah II has warned that Israel's stance in peace talks with the Palestinian is fuelling instability in the Middle East, in remarks published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.

"If we can't get the Israelis and Palestinians together in this next couple of days, then what signal is that for the future process?" King Abdullah asked in a WSJ interview in New York ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday warned against "any foreign intervention that threatens to fragment states in the region and increase the risk of extremism in them," in talks with a Russian delegation on a mission to help end the government crackdown on anti-regime protests.

Assad also welcomed the "balanced and constructive Russian position toward the security and stability of Syria," the state-run SANA news agency reported.