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Senior Israeli army officers said that despite agreement to hand over his chemical stockpile for dismantlement, Syria’s President Assad continues to use and develop chemical weapons.

Although Assad’s government has turned over most of its declared chemical stocks to the international watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Reuters reports that an unnamed senior Israeli officer said that, “our assessment is that the Syrians will preserve a low residual capability. My assessment is that this is focused in one area, which is nerve gas.” This would appear to concur with concerns relayed yesterday by Western delegates to the United Nations Security Council, including the UK representative in a meeting with OPCW officials. According to AFP, one delegate said, “Syria continues to possess approximately 100 metric tonnes of material” at a specific site.

In a separate report, the Times of Israel quotes an Israeli officer who said that since he agreed to relinquish his chemical arsenal, Assad was continuing to conduct chemical attacks more frequently than previously thought. The officer said, “From the day that he signed the deal, [Assad] has used chemical weapons over 30 times, and in every case citizens were killed.” He explained that Assad’s forces were using “non-classic substances” such as chlorine to carry out such attacks, usually via mortars or short-range rockets. Two weeks ago, media reports surfaced of chlorine bomb attacks in Syria and the Telegraph commissioned scientific tests on samples from three specific incidents, where evidence of chlorine was apparent.

Meanwhile, in Syria itself, an Islamist opposition group yesterday carried out a massive explosion in Aleppo, destroying the Carlton Citadel Hotel, which was being used by Assad’s forces as barracks. It is claimed that at least 50 people died in the explosion, which was perpetrated via a massive tunnel bomb. The Times reports that, “The Palestinian Hamas movement is alleged to have played a key role in teaching rebel groups to build tunnels,” having used them extensively for smuggling and armed attacks.