BEIRUT - President Michel Sleiman on Monday voiced concern over the latest Israeli warnings to Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah and its backer Syria, saying he could "no longer take them lightly."

"The world today knows that Israeli threats against Lebanon are no longer to be taken lightly," Sleiman said in a statement released by his office. "No one in Lebanon has responded to these threats by saying they would attack Israel," he added. "Israel has no excuse to launch an attack."

Israeli officials have warned repeatedly in recent weeks that any attack by Lebanon's Syrian-backed Hezbollah will spark a tough response. Hezbollah has not responded to the warnings. Syria and Israel have also been locked in a war of words.

On Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Damascus would back "the government and people of Lebanon against any possible Israeli aggression launched on Lebanon." Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem warned last week that war against his country would become a wider conflict. "Israelis, do not test the power of Syria since you know the war will move into your cities," he said.

His Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman responded that any war would cost Assad his grip on power. "When there is another war, you will not just lose it, but you and your family will lose power," Lieberman said. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sought to ease tensions, saying Israel wants peace with all of its neighbours.

"We made peace with Egypt and Jordan and we seek peace with Syria and the Palestinians," he said. Netanyahu last week had also accused Beirut of allowing Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into Lebanon in "blatant violation of (United Nations Security Council) Resolution 1701."

Resolution 1701 brought an end to a devastating month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.