Experts at the Security Research Institute in northern Israel (Alma) have warned of the danger of Syrian chemical weapons falling into the hands of the Lebanese Hezbollah and other armed militias working with it.
A report circulated to the media stated that the Syrian CERS complex, which officially appears as an institute for civil scientific research, has come under almost absolute Iranian control, and was currently managed by the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The report claimed that the CERS center included about 20,000 Syrian officers and experts in the production of weapons of all kinds, including chemical arms. It was established in the 1980s and has several facilities spread throughout Syria.
At a certain stage, Iranian military experts began to gradually dominate the center, with the goal to develop and produce precision missiles and rockets, cruise missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
In 2013, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly warned of these facilities and the danger of chemical weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah. Since then, the Syrian Air Force has been bombing them continuously.
But the warning, this time, came as a result of intelligence investigations and academic follow-up and could hint at Israel’s intention to attack the center facilities.
According to the report, Alma sees that stockpiles of weapons left in remote CERS facilities - be it missiles, rockets or mortar shells armed with chemical weapons like nerve gas – could be transferred to Hezbollah during the next war with Israel.
The report pointed to a high possibility that Israel, in the event of a war, will bomb these chemical weapons stores and factories, wherever they are, to prevent Hezbollah from using them.
