Syria: Israel ‘main beneficiary’ in chemical weapons attack allegations

The Syrian Foreign Minister accused Israel of benefiting from allegations his government used chemical weapons as the Israeli Defense Minister declared Assad was behind Tuesday’s chemical weapons attack in Idlib. 

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem accused Israel during a press conference on Thursday of being the “main beneficiary” in the allegations made against the Syrian government of responsibility in the chemical weapons attack that took place in the country’s Idlib province on Tuesday.

Muallem made his remarks as senior Israeli defense officials claimed the Syrian government was behind the attack. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that with “100 percent certainty,” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered the attack.

Assad claims Israel is at war with Syria by allegedly supporting terrorist groups fighting against the Syrian government in the country’s ongoing six-year civil war.

“You can assume in any case that these terrorists are fighting for Israel,” Assad said in an interview with the Croatian newspaper Vecernji List.

“Even if they are not a regular Israeli army, they are still fighting for Israel, and Israel shares the objectives with Turkey, the United States, France, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other states,” Assad continued.  “They all share the same objective.”

Assad asserted that a victory against terrorist groups in Syria would be a victory against Israel. “Practically, our victory over the terrorists is a victory over all those states put together,” he said.

“That’s why Israel is doing its best to support these terrorists in every place the Syrian Army advances,” Assad added, implicitly referencing occasional reported operations by Israel inside Syria launched in order to prevent advanced weaponry from reaching the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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