Israel VP Does not Rule out Strike if Syria's Chemical Arms Transferred to Hizbullah

Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom hinted on Sunday that any sign of Syrian chemical arms transfer to Hizbullah could trigger military strikes.

Shalom told Israel's Army Radio that should Hizbullah or rebels battling forces loyal to President Bashar Assad obtain chemical weapons, "it would dramatically change the capabilities of those organizations."

Such a development would be "a crossing of all red lines that would require a different approach, including even preventive operations," he said alluding to military intervention.

"The concept, in principle, is that this (transfer) must not happen," The Jerusalem Post quoted Shalom as saying.

"The moment we begin to understand that such a thing is liable to happen, we will have to make decisions," he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday stressed the need to "look around, at what is happening in Iran and its proxies, what is happening in other arenas with lethal weapons in Syria, which is falling apart."

According to reports in Israeli media, Netanyahu last Wednesday convened an emergency discussion with the security establishment and his inner cabinet on the situation in Syria and the risk of it losing control over its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.