Israeli officials fear Syrian rebels will seize chemical weapons in Aleppo invasion

The weapons may include missiles, production and storage facilities of chemical weapons like sarin, tanks, and armored personnel carriers.

By AMIR BOHBOT DECEMBER 3, 2024 09:53

Rebels fire at the Syrian military on the outskirts of Aleppo in Syria. November 29, 2024. (photo credit: BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's security establishment has raised concerns that Syrian rebels may seize strategic rebels in the Aleppo area after the rebel groups entered the city last week and forced President Bashar al-Assad's regime to flee.

Such weapons may include missiles, production and storage facilities of chemical weapons like sarin, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and aircraft at bases in the Aleppo area and its surroundings.

In addition to stockpiles of light weapons, shoulder-fired missiles, vehicles, and various types of ammunition, the area contains infrastructure sites for the production of weapons such as rockets, precision missiles, and other armaments, some of which are manufactured for Hezbollah and pro-Iranian Shiite militias.

These production sites are designed to complicate IDF operations targeting the smuggling of weapons from Iran to Syria and from there to Beirut.

The rebels are mostly from organizations rooted in al-Qaeda. 

A Syrian rebel carries a weapon as he stands at the entrance of Saraqeb town in northwestern Idlib province, Syria. December 1, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MAHMOUD HASSANO)

In the short term, they are focused on opposing the Assad regime. However, the defense establishment fears that once they consolidate control over the area, they may turn their intentions and firepower toward the Israeli home front. 

The weapons that might fall into their hands, combined with their extremist ideology, could threaten Israel's security interests, necessitating constant vigilance. 

Iran's involvement 

Another highly dangerous development for Israel is Iran's involvement, which is currently striving to suppress the rebellion led by the rebels against the Assad regime. 

Further, Iranian success in the Syrian arena could bolster its influence over the Syrian regime. 

Recently, however, there have been growing calls among moderate Sunni states urging Assad to break away from the "Axis of Evil," rejoin the Arab League, and benefit from investments that could help rehabilitate his regime and Syria.