- Title: MIDDLE EAST: Gasmasks in demand as Israel tracks Syria chemical arms.
- Date: 24th July 2012
- Summary: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL SYRIAN-ISRAELI BORDER, GOLAN HEIGHTS (JULY 24, 2012) (REUTERS) SYRIA AS SEEN THROUGH BARBED WIRE ON ISRAELI BORDER ISRAELI MILITARY POST NEAR BORDER ISRAELI JEEPS AND SOLDIERS NEAR BORDER AREA MORE OF SYRIA AS SEEN FROM ISRAEL TOURISTS ON A MOUNTAIN OVER LOOKING SYRIAN BORDER GROUP OF TOURISTS LISTENING TO TOUR GUIDE I
- Embargoed: 8th August 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Syrian Arab Republic, Israel
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAEBI4UKE3QHOYPZDFAUEC48YCV
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The Syrian government is still in full control of its chemical weapons stockpiles, Israeli defence officials said on Tuesday (July 24) in an apparent bid to calm fears a non-conventional conflict could be looming.
Syria's 16-month-old conflict has spread concern that the chemical arsenal, acknowledged by Damascus for the first time on Monday (July 23), could fall into the hands of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamist the Lebanese Islamist group allied to Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, or that Assad could use then in a desperate last stand.
The Assad government said such weapons are secure and could be used only as a last-resort against Syria's foreign enemies - an allusion to outside military intervention.
The rhetoric stoked demand in Israel for state-funded gas masks, which have been distributed over the last few years as part of the country's wider preparations for a possible showdown over arch-foe Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
Amos Gilad, adviser to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, told Israel Radio, that the worry was that the Assad regime's control will destabilise but he added that "as of now, the entire non-conventional weapons system was under the full control of the regime."
Israel is technically at war with Syria. While they have not traded blows in three decades, the Assad government's disclosure suggested there would be no holds barred if its survival were to be threatened by foreign forces.
Underpinning Israel's concerns are holes in its homefront defences exposed during the 2006 Lebanon war by Hezbollah rockets. Those rockets are dwarfed by Syria's Scud missiles.
Since being hit with Iraqi Scuds during the 1991 Gulf war, Israel has required new homes be built with dual-use fortified rooms that can be sealed off as bomb shelters. But around a fifth of citizens still lack these or a public shelter in reach.
Gas masks are another precaution. Some critics say the kits, costing the state $60 to $175 are a pricey item with limited value against nerve agents.
But Israelis are taking up the offer, just in case..
"There is smell of a war, of a chemical war, in the air. So it was just the perfect time to come and to take the mask," said 65-year old Maya Knobler, who collected masks for herself and her daughter in a shopping mall in Mevasseret Zion, a town outside Jerusalem.
"Watch a little bit over the borders and you will see what is going on there. The stability definitely is not the same as it was before. So what happens in the future I don't know, that is why you have to be ready always," said another citizen, Arie Zimet, who came to pick up gas masks.
"We are aware that the area is a volatile area, and that we should take precautions that the government offers, so it is to our advantage to upgrade (our gas masks) since ours are quite out of date by now," said Shoshana Goldbaum.
The Israel Postal Company, which distributes them for the military, said 3,700 gas masks were handed out on Monday, up from the daily average of 2,200.
The company's spokesman, Merav Lapidot, said the increase was undoubtedly connected to Syria.
She said there had been swings in demand in the past and that she knew of no orders to boost supply now. Of Israel's 7.8 million citizens, 4.2 million had been kitted out, Lapidot said, and the rest would be reached within six months.
The crisis in Syria is just one of the regional headaches for Israel, compounding its jitters over the nuclear programme of Iran, another old foe.
David Friedman, an expert on Chemical and Biological weapons in the Middle East, who works at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said that Syria has one of the largest arsenals of chemical weapons in the world.
"For many years it is known that Syria has an arsenal of chemical weapons. Although the Syrians didn't admit it, it was almost a known fact that this is the case and that Syria has one of the most, I would say, biggest arsenals of chemical weapons in the world, and it is maybe second only to maybe North Korea or some other countries. But its a known fact also that the weapons are in full capacity and in full, I would say, operational situation," Friedman said.
He added that if Hezbollah would get a hold of this arsenal, it would be a "great challenge" for Israel.
"If (the ) US, EU and also Israel maybe as part of this coalition, I would say, would say and would declare very promptly and very severely that this will be a sort of crossing a border or crossing a red line, I have the feeling that Assad will not use it against enemies. On the other hand, I am more pessimistic about the possibility that these munitions and weapons would fall into the hands of the Hezbollah. This case will really be a great challenge for Israel and the US and EU," he said.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli military chief Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz and other senior defence officials said that the Syrian government is still in full control of its chemical weapons stockpiles.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel would consider military action, if needed, to ensure those weapons did not reach Assad's Hezbollah guerrilla allies in Lebanon. Israel says Hezbollah, a bitter enemy, has some 70,000 rockets in its arsenal. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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