Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in Damascus two weeks ago, according to Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon.
Haaretz reports:
The opposition in Syria reported two incidents in which the Assad regime used chemical weapons – both in Damascus and both two weeks ago.
The Israeli security establishment has strong evidence pointing to the use of chemical materials in the Harasta neighborhood of eastern Damascus on March 27. The material is thought to be a neutralizing chemical that wounds people for several hours but is not fatal.
During a press conference Monday on the disarmament of Syrian chemical weapons, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that the Syrian regime has destroyed all its chemical manufacturing lines, and apparently most of its ammunition designated for activating chemical weapons. Ya'alon explained that 60 percent of Syria's chemical materials have already been removed as part of the agreement with the West.
"In recent weeks the process of removing materials from Syria has accelerated, after a brief pause, via a Danish or Norwegian ship from Latakia to an American site where it is destroyed," Ya'alon said, adding that Assad currently controls a bit less than 40 percent of the territory.