U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and international envoy Kofi Annan called on the U.N. Security Council to take strong action on the Syria conflict ahead of a vote Thursday on a western-backed resolution calling for sanctions.

Russia and China are expected to veto the resolution at the 15-nation council despite mounting global concern over Syria after a Damascus bomb attack in which three close associates of President Bashar Assad were killed.

Israel expressed concern on Thursday that Hizbullah might attempt to transfer advanced weapons systems or chemical weapons from Syrian to Lebanon if the regime of President Bashar Assad collapsed.

"We are vigilantly watching the developments and the possibility that Hizbullah might attempt to transfer advanced weapons systems or chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement issued by his office.

The United States moved to freeze the assets of dozens of Syrian ministers Wednesday, piling pressure on the regime as it reeled from a bomb attack that took out three core security officials.

The White House insisted President Bashar Assad was "losing control" of power, as Washington marshaled its forces to push the regime toward its tipping point.

Arab foreign ministers are to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday on the crisis in Syria, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said, after a Damascus bombing on Wednesday killed top security officials.

The meeting in Doha, following a scheduled session of the organization's Syria crisis task force, will "examine the consequences of the situation in Syria from all angles," Arabi said.

Russia on Wednesday demanded the arrest and strict punishment of those behind what it called an "act of terror" in Damascus that killed three top Syrian security officials in a suicide bombing.

"We expect the organizers of the act of terror in Damascus to be identified and for them to face their deserved punishment," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The U.N. Security Council postponed a vote Wednesday on a Western-drafted resolution calling for sanctions against Syria following a request from international envoy Kofi Annan, diplomats said.

A threat by Russia, President Bashar Assad's key ally, to veto the resolution has sparked new Security Council tensions on Syria.

One person was killed in Tripoli on Wednesday by gunshots fired in celebration of the Syria bombing.

Khaled Fares was killed at the Malloula roundabout by a stray bullet shot during the Tripoli celebrations over the news of the Damascus explosion that targeted a number of Syrian security officials, reported MTV.

World powers said a suicide bombing Wednesday that killed three top Syrian officials showed the urgent need for a political transition.

"The French government, without knowing the circumstances of this attack, has always condemned terrorism. That said, given the level of violence, this makes it even more necessary and urgent to find a political transition," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the French Senate.

Russia on Wednesday said a decisive battle was in progress in Syria and rejected a Western-backed U.N. resolution on the crisis as it would mean taking sides with a revolutionary movement.

"A decisive battle is in progress in Syria. Adopting the resolution would mean outright support of a revolutionary movement. And if we are talking about a revolution then the United Nations has nothing to do with it," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in reference to the armed opposition to President Bashar Assad.

The rebel Free Syrian Army head has echoed fears that President Bashar Assad might resort to using chemical weapons to try to rescue his embattled regime, Al-Bayan newspaper reported on Wednesday.

"We are seeking to secure protective gas masks for civilians and (defected) soldiers ... after the regime moved some out of storage," Colonel Riad Assaad told the Dubai daily.