Israelis fazed with a Syrian backlash

Israelis were digesting the horror of a Syrian backlash on Thursday with queues for civil defense kits lengthening amid expectations of a US-led military strike against the neighbouring coutrny.

Most media on Thursday sought to ease fears of a Syrian backlash against staunch US ally Israel, which insists it is not a party to events across its northern border.

The Post said the regime's authorities are quite confident Syria will not commence hostilities against Israel, citing the regime's firepower.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's eight-member security cabinet in Wednesday authorised a limited call-up of reservists but the premier said in a statement that members of the public had "no reason to change their routines." Haaretz daily said that those to be called up numbered "a few hundred" personnel considered 'vital'.

News website Ynet reported on Thursday morning that "hundreds" of people were waiting outside a gas mask distribution centre in central Tel Aviv before it opened.

Public radio said that "thousands" of people were queueing at a distribution site in the northern city of Haifa, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from the Syrian border at its closest point.

Maariv said that a centre in 'Jerusalem' (occupied al-Quds) was forced to close on Wednesday after anxious residents grabbed all the mask kits on the premises, in a scene the paper described as a "battleground."

Nevertheless, Maariv reported, "security officials said that the situation assessment was that the likelihood of an attack on Israel was low."

In addition to gas masks the kits contain syringes of the anti-nerve gas agent atropine for self-injection.