- "Defending Syria is a national destiny and not a political option," an official says
- He says the opposition abroad is "clinically dead," even after a recent unification
- At least 35 people have been killed across Syria on Tuesday, dissidents say
- Seven family members were killed by shelling, an opposition group says
(CNN) -- Not long after Syrian dissidents united in hopes of gaining global credibility, the Syrian government slammed the new coalition, saying any effort to topple President Bashar al-Assad will be futile.
"There is no power in this entire world that can defeat Syria because we have a valiant military and our noble people believe in our cause," Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said, according to the state-run Tishreen news agency. "Defending Syria is a national destiny and not a political option."
He also described dissidents outside Syria as "nothing but an empty bubble."
"The opposition abroad is clinically dead and they are in a state of turmoil," al-Zoubi said.
The latest insults in the Syrian civil war came days after opposition factions formally agreed in Qatar to unite as the new National Coalition Forces of the Syrian Revolution.
Peres: All moms want to sleep in peace After 20 months of relentless turmoil, rebel forces have not had a unified vision for the country or single military plan to oust al-Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than four decades. The United States and Arab nations pressured the groups to get on the same page.
The new coalition agreed that it wants al-Assad gone and that no one would talk with his government. Spokesman Mohammed Dugham said the only option now is a totally new government.
So despite the opposition's unification efforts -- and in light of the government's defiance -- the bloody civil war rages on.
On the ground: At least 35 killed Tuesday across Syria
Tuesday's warfare was particularly brutal outside the capital, where at least 30 people were killed in suburban Damascus, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
Many were killed by bombings from the sky; shelling on the suburban Damascus city of Daraya killed seven members of the same family, the LCC said. The group also reported two deaths in Idlib and one each in Raqqa, Hama and Deir Ezzor.
CNN cannot independently verify reports of deaths and violence across the country, as the Syrian government has severely restricted access by international journalists.
CNN's Saad Abedine and Holly Yan contributed to this report.
Smoke rises after Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain, killing at least four people, wounding many others and sending panicked residents fleeing across to Turkey on Monday, November 12. View photos from November in this gallery, and see October photos from the conflict here. 
Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his gun in Aleppo on Sunday, November 11. 
Syrian opposition fighters pass a civilian as they patrol the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday. 
A Syrian opposition fighter walks in a destroyed house after hard clashes with Syrian regime forces in Ras al Ain on Saturday, November 10. 
Syrian nationals cross the border between the Syrian town of Ras al Ain and Ceylanpinar, Turkey, on Saturday. 
Syrian army soldiers ride along a street Saturday in the northern province of Aleppo. 
A Syrian opposition fighter stands in a destroyed house in Ras al Ain on Saturday. 
Syrians cross the border into Turkey on Friday, November 9, near the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar. 
Smoke rises after an explosion in the Syrian village of Bariqa near the the cease-fire line in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Wednesday, November 7. Israel is asking the U.N. Security Council to address an intrusion by Syrian tanks into the buffer zone between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights, which Israel says violates the two countries' Separation of Forces agreement. 
An Israeli Merkava tank crew sits in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights overlooking the Syrian village of Breqa on Tuesday, November 6. An Israeli military vehicle in the Golan Heights was hit by gunfire from Syria on Monday, the Israeli army said. 
A mortar shell explodes in the Syrian village of Breqa on Tuesday. 
Syrian rescue workers evacuate a woman and her two children from a building targeted by an airstrike from government forces in a town northeast of Aleppo on Sunday, November 4. An AFP correspondent reported three air strikes on the town in close succession. 
Syrian people take cover as a second bomb explodes during a rescue attempt in nearby a building that was hit during an air raid by government forces earlier on Sunday. 
A Syrian rebel fighter rests on a couch in a rebel-controlled building on the front line in Aleppo's northern Izaa quarter on Sunday. 
A mannequin used by rebel fighters as a decoy is seen in an area where clashes continue with pro-government forces in Aleppo on Friday, November 2. 
A member of the Free Syrian Army runs for cover from sniper fire in Aleppo on Friday. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army stand close to an unexploded bomb dropped by a fighter jet weeks earlier, at a checkpoint in Aleppo on Thursday, November 1. 
Buildings lie destoryed by what activists say were missiles fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Erbeen, near Damascus on Thursday. See photographs from October. 
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