Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Tuesday that intelligence estimation showed that Syria was serious about negotiating with Israel, local daily Yedioth Aharonot reported.

Peretz made the remarks to senior military staffs during a military conference on the Lebanon war.

Peretz also said that Hezbollah had been greatly weakened in the war, with its infrastructure destroyed.

Syria has recently offered to resume negotiations with Israel, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has repeatedly expressed his opposition on starting talks with Syria, citing its support for Hamas, Hezbollah and other militant groups.

Source: Xinhua