Syria threatens to hit Israel with chemical weapons if attacked

Sources in Syria warned Thursday that it would launch chemical weapons at Israel should Jerusalem attempt to attack its non-conventional weapons depots, a Kuwaiti paper reported.

According to the report in the Kuwait daily Al-Rai, Damascus would view any attack as a declaration of war and the regime would not hesitate to use chemical weapons on Israel. The sources told Al-Rai that an attack on its weapons depots would cause great pollution to the environment and kill anyone in the area, a scenario that would provoke an all-out conflict.

Israel has said it would use force to prevent Syria’s chemical weapons from falling into terrorists’ hands as President Bashar Assad’s regime comes under increasing fire. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Israel would consider any transfer of chemical weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon as a cause for war.

The unnamed sources in al-Rai report dismissed Israeli officials’ comments as “overblown and immature.” They added that Israel doesn’t understand the effect such a decision would have.

In an interview earlier this week with Fox News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel may have to act to keep Syrian chemical weapons out of the wrong hands.

Syria is thought to have one of the largest chemical weapons stockpiles in the world, with supplies of sarin and vx nerve agents, cyanide and mustard gas.

The country has vowed to not use the weapons on its own people, but has said they would be used on invading foreigners. Damascus often describes opposition rebels waging a civil war for control of the country as foreign terrorists.