Israel's attacks on Damascus hinder chemical weapons search

18/7/2025 7:08

Israeli airstrikes on Damascus are hampering Syria's efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser said on Thursday.



A planned visit by inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has already had to be postponed, adviser Ibrahim Olabi, who is the legal adviser to Syria's Foreign Ministry tasked with the chemical weapons file, said.



The OPCW will hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday next week to discuss the situation in Syria, a document published on its website on Thursday showed. The meeting comes at the request of Qatar which represents the interest of Syria at the OPCW and which said in a letter the Israeli attacks on Damascus pose a

direct threat to Syria's capacity to meet its obligations to the chemical weapons watchdog.