Israel Worried About Syrian Rebels Getting Chemical Weapons

Assad had kept them out of the hands of militants

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responded to past warnings about the security of chemical weapons by taking steps to keep them out of the hands of militants, Israel's vice prime minister Moshe Yaalon said on Wednesday.

Yaalon joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in making clear that Israel is as concerned about chemical weapons falling into the hands of anti-Assad insurgents as it is about them being used by state forces in the Syrian civil war.

"Together with the international community, we are closely monitoring developments in Syria regarding its stores of chemical weapons," Netanyahu said on Tuesday. "Such weapons must not be used and must not reach terrorist elements."