Syria: Nerve Gas Used by Regime, Says Israeli Official

Syria nerve gas: An Israeli official on Tuesday has claimed that the Syrian regime forces have likely used nerve gas while fighting with rebels.

Brigadier-General Itai Brun, a top military analyst, said that “to the best of our understanding, there was use of lethal chemical weapons. Which chemical weapons? Probably sarin.”

President Barack Obama last year said that Syria would be crossing a “red line” if it were to use chemical weapons, meaning that if Brun’s statements are correct, there might be some kind of U.S. response. And U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that Syria’s use of chemical weapons could be a “game-changer” on Monday, according to the BBC.

Brun said he saw photos of victims foaming from the mouth and had contracted pupils--signs that nerve gas might have been used.

“One of the main characteristics of the recent events in Syria is the increasing use of ground-to-ground missiles, rockets and chemical weapons by the Syrian regime. There is a wide-range usage of missile, rockets and more by the Syrian weapons array,” he said, according to NBC News.

Brun said he saw victims last month with “shrunken pupils, foaming from the mouth, and other symptoms” and added that “the type of chemical weapons was likely sarin, as well as neutralizing and non-lethal chemical weapons.”

Sarin was originally designed as a pesticide by Germany in 1938 that is colorless and odorless. In heavy amounts, it paralyzes the muscles and causes severe respiratory problems.

Brun said there is more than 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents in Syria and many warheads, according to AFP.

“The use of such weapons would be entirely unacceptable. We reiterate in the strongest possible terms the obligations of the Syrian regime to safeguard its chemical weapons stockpiles, and not to use or transfer such weapons to terrorist groups like Hezbollah,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said, according to NBC.