Israel denies involvement in Beirut blast

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya 'alon Tuesday brushed off accusations that his government was behind a lethal car bomb explosion in a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanese capital of Beirut. Several people were reportedly killed and dozens of others wounded in a powerful blast that rocked a suburb in southern Beirut controlled by Hezbollah early Tuesday morning. Ali Ammar, a Hezbollah parliamentarian, said the incident bore the "clear fingerprint of Israel and its instruments." Speaking during a tour of an Israeli army training base, Ya' alon contended that the Syrian civil war has reached Lebanon "a while back" after Shiite group Hezbollah joined forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in their battle against opposition groups. "We see what is happening in Tripoli, Sidon and Beirut, where a car bomb exploded today. This is mainly a struggle between Shiites and Sunnis. We don't interfere," Ya'alon was quoted as saying in a statement sent to Xinhua. He further dismissed accusations that Israel attacked ammunition depots in the Syrian port city of Latakia last Friday, where powerful blasts caused a number of deaths and injuries. "We repeatedly say that we don't intervene in the Syrian bloodshed. Israel has drawn red lines regarding its interests sticks to them. Every time there is an attack or an explosion there, we are mostly always accused," he said. In his first public comment on the ouster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, Ya'alon said that the upheaval in Egypt " reflects a chronic instability in the Middle East in the foreseeable future." While Israel refrains from interfering in Egypt's inner political struggles, it was "vigorously monitoring" developments there in order to protect its own interests, especially the security situation in Sinai, said Ya'alon.