Washington Post reports Israel launched airstrikes on Syrian regime’s chemical facilities

DARAMSUQ / HMOTH, Syria — Throughout the course of the Syrian civil war, Israeli air strikes have been a repeated occurence, specifically targeting the presence of Iranian militias in the country. The Washington Post has reported, however, that the Israeli strikes have not been limited to Iranian assets and have included the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons facilities.

An informed source confirmed to Reuters the authenticity of the report, quoting four U.S. and western intelligence officials who revealed that during the past two years, Israeli aircraft targeted Syrian chemical facilities twice.

On 8 June, Israel struck three military targets linked to the Syrian chemical weapons program near Daramsuq (Damascus) and Hmoth (Homs). In March 2020, it targeted a complex for purchasing chemicals that can be used in nerve gases, the newspaper reported.

According to the officials, the decision to carry out the airstrikes came after accurate information that the Syrian regime had obtained supplies to re-launch its chemical program. The regime previously claimed that its chemical weapons had been destroyed and completely disposed of in 2013.

During the Syrian civil war, the regime has denied using or possessing chemical weapons, although repeated investigations conducted by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded that the regime used sarin and chlorine gases in attacks between 2015 and 2018.