A Palestinian recruited by the militant group Hamas to commit terrorist acts against Israelis admitted in a jailhouse interview Tuesday that he received paramilitary training from Hamas inside Syria. This corroborates American and Israeli intelligence sources that linked the terrorist group to Damascus, a link Syria has always publicly denied.

Osama Mattar, 20, spoke to a reporter from the Associated Press on Tuesday and told him that he was trained at a camp near Damascus that was even inspected by Syrian intelligence agents.

'They know very well about the presence of Hamas,' Mattar told the Associated Press. 'What they may not have known about was the presence of a guy from Gaza coming to train at the training camp in Syria.'

Hamas has previously admitted to giving its members paramilitary training in Syrian controlled Lebanon but has always denied training members in Syrian territory. Mattar was arrested by Israeli forces on March 2 as he tried to cross back into Gaza.

'There is ongoing intelligence information that the terrorist groups working out of Syria are directly responsible for suicide bombings in Israel and continue to function and operate with the facilitation of the government in Syria,' said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. 'We see today a growing understanding in the international community of the Syrian regime's collaboration with terrorist groups.'

Mattar gave detailed descriptions of the training he received including what car to drive, how to keep his cell phone safe and training in items from electronics to weapons. He has not been charged with any crime nor has he been implicated in any specific terrorist attack.

Still, Mattar's testimony is vital evidence in the long suspected connection between the Syrian government and Palestinian terror groups.