As Israel's top diplomats pressed their case that Damascus should pay the price for sheltering Hamas leaders, deputy defense minister Zeev Boim dropped strong hints that a strike on Syrian targets could be imminent.

"The rule that 'anyone who deals in terror against Israel is a target' is a rule that must be stated and one that we must stand behind," Boim told public radio, adding that Israel would take care not to cause a "conflagration" on its northern border.

"It is possible to launch operations, provided that the targets are well chosen and that the moment is right, in order to make the Syrians understand that there are red lines that cannot be crossed," he added.

Boim was reacting to comments by the chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, Yuval Steinitz, who proposed "to attack Syrian targets, especially in Lebanon (where Syria has around 20,000 troops), despite the risk of a flare-up on the northern border."

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom had earlier said that Syria "is responsible for terrorist acts against us because this country is home of the headquarters of terrorist organizations and orders to carry out these attacks are given in Damascus."

Syria "must understand that this policy will have clear consequences... if we believe that Damascus has crossed a red line we will act," he added.

Sixteen people as well as the two bombers were killed on Tuesday in a double suicide attack in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the radical Islamist movement Hamas whose senior leader, Khaled Meshaal, is based in Damascus.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's official spokesman, Raanan Gissin, told AFP that "the order for the terrorist attacks comes directly from Khaled Meshaal's bureau based in Damascus."

The attacks in Beersheva were the deadliest since a suicide bombing in the port city of Haifa last October, which left 21 people and the female bomber dead.

Meanwhile, Syria yesterday rejected Israeli threats of military strikes against it and denied any involvement in deadly bomb attacks in southern Israel this week.

"The Israeli threats against Syria are not based on any evidence and are completely lacking in credibility," Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said, the official SANA news agency reported.