US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatened this week to toughen sanctions Washington imposed on Syria in 2004, mainly because of its support for the two movements, which Washington regards as "terrorist organisations."

"Syria is more determined to stand by the resistance until the land is liberated and Israel is defeated," an editorial in the newspaper Baath said.

Both Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement whose July 12 cross-border raid into Israel triggered a 34-day war with the Jewish state, and the Islamist group Hamas which won elections and runs the Palestinian government, refuse to recognise Israel.

"If the US administration is serious about combating terrorism then it should play a constructive role in pushing forward the peace process on the basis of UN resolutions 242 and 338," the newspaper said.

The UN resolutions, passed decades ago, emphasize the inadmissibility of acquiring territory through war, call on Israel to withdraw from Arab land it has occupied since 1967 and call for negotiations to reach a "just and durable peace" in the Middle East.

"Absolute US support for Israel is one of the main causes behind regional instability. The United States has helped Israel in the United Nations stand against any proposal for a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict," the newspaper said.

Rice said this week that the United States was going "to have to look at tougher measures if Syria continues to be on the path that it's on." She said Washington would like other nations to join it in imposing "other kinds of sanctions" on Syria.