Baku-APA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is tracking developments across its northern border in Syria regarding its stores of chemical weapons, local media reported Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
"Together with the international community, we are closely monitoring developments in Syria regarding its stores of chemical weapons," Netanyahu told a public diplomacy forum Tuesday evening.
"I heard Obama's important remarks on this issue, and we agree that such weapons must not be used and must not reach terrorist elements," the Israeli prime minister said.
The comments were made following reports that cited Western intelligence officials who claimed to have spotted increased activities in Syrian chemical weapons facilities in recent days as indicating that the Syrian administration is possibly ready to use such weapons as a measure of last resort, as rebel forces are closing in on Damascus and Assad is boxed in.
Both the White House and U.S. State Department have issued statements saying that the use of chemical weapons is "totally unacceptable," warning Assad that he would bear the consequences, while the NATO on Tuesday approved Turkey's request to deploy Patriot anti-missile batteries along its border with Syria.
Israel, concerned about the possibility of chemical weapons reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah or falling into the hands of Jihadists that have joined the fighting against Assad, has already sought to launch an airstrike all on its own.
The Atlantic magazine said Monday an Israeli bid to secure Jordan's consent to bomb Syria's chemical weapons arsenal failed due to the latter's fear of a Syrian reprisal.
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