JERUSALEM, Dec 10: A top Israeli military official told the Cabinet on Sunday that Syria had moved its missile batteries closer to the border with Israel and was preparing its forces for a military conflict with Israel, a senior government official said.

However, Brig-Gen Yossi Baidatz, head of research in military intelligence, said that Syrian President Bashar Assad was also considering the path of peace, according to a participant in the weekly Cabinet meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

“Assad is working in two parallel tracks,” Baidatz said. “On the one hand he is not ruling out a diplomatic solution with Israel and on the other hand he is preparing his forces for military conflict.”

Baidatz said Syria had increased its production of long-range missiles and had also moved its anti-aircraft missile batteries closer to the border on the Golan Heights.—AP