Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday that the transfer of particular weapons systems from Syria to Hezbollah would obligate Israel to take action in Lebanon.

During a tour of the northern border on Tuesday, Barak addressed concerns that Syria was looking to transfer anti-aircraft missiles to the Lebanon-based militants group, vowing that Israel would respond to such an illicit deal.

The defense minister, who was addressing an Israel Defense Unit on the northern border, would not detail in his address which weapons systems were allegedly being dealed.

"There are [weapons] system capable of tipping the status quo in Lebanon and we will need to consider our response should they be transferred," he said.

Bracing for reprisals a year after the assassination of Hezbollah's military mastermind, Israel said on Tuesday it would hold Lebanon responsible for any such attacks by the guerrilla group.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the February 12, 2007 car bombing that killed one of the group's top leaders, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus, and vowed revenge.

Barak told IDF forces during his northern tour on Tuesday that Israel would indeed respond to any instigation by Hezbollah.

"I do not recommend that Hezbollah try us, the results will be even more painful than one could imaginem" he said.

"Hezbollah is not just a terrorist organization cavorting in the hills," Barak said during a tour of the Lebanese border, within view of the Iranian-and Syrian-backed Shiite militia's heartland.

"It also sits around the cabinet table in Beirut, with a sufficient number of ministers to decide on how to act, and therefore the Lebanese government bears overall responsibility. Any attempt to strike at Israel will meet with a response. There is no need to elaborate," he said.

The Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a severe travel warning on Sunday for Israelis abroad, two weeks ahead of the one-year year anniversary of the assassination.

The bureau said it was on high alert due to concrete intelligence that Hezbollah is in advanced stages of preparing an attack against Israelis abroad to avenge Mughniyeh's death.

Israel, which denied involvement in the assassination, said Hezbollah could be planning to retaliate covertly rather than disrupt a military entente in place since the 2006 Lebanon war.

In September, Israel said it had foiled several Hezbollah attempts to abduct its citizens abroad, and last week it issued a new travel advisory ahead of the assassination's anniversary.

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, last week declined to comment on whether Israel had indeed thwarted attacks by his group abroad. But he said Hezbollah's revenge was "yet ahead". -Reuters