Israel operating in Syria, US preparing to join
Various Western, Arab and Israeli media reports have been claiming for over a month now that Israeli special forces are on the ground in Syria [allegedly] in an effort to keep tabs on its chemical weapons stockpile. - Those reports mesh well with news that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited neighboring Jordan this week to discuss with King Abdullah a possible air strike on the bulk of Syria's weapons of mass destruction. Such an air strike would require targeting groups to be on the ground. On Thursday, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon said that American forces were also gearing up for possible intervention in Syria should the embattled regime of dictator Bashar Assad employ chemical weapons against rebels. US President Barack Obama has already stated that the use of chemical weapons by Assad would be a "red line." Despite a flurry of reports earlier this week that Assad's forces had in fact used chemical weapons against rebels in several battles, Ya'alon told Israel Radio that there was no evidence of this being true.
Stephen Lendman: Islamofascist Killers Threaten Syria
Tony Cartalucci: Syrian Military: Militants Using Chemical Weapons
Jason Ditz: Syrian Rebels Spurn Russian Call for Peace Talks - Syrian rebel leader Mouaz al-Khatib has publicly condemned the Russian Foreign Ministry for offering to organize peace talks aimed at ending the civil war, insisting that no talks were possible until Russia forcibly removed Bashar Assad from power.
PressTV: Blast in northwestern Syria kills several civilians - Several Syrian civilians have been killed in an explosion in the northwestern province of Idlib, as militant groups continue their attacks on the Syrian government. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed or injured in the bombing on Friday, but according to Press TV correspondent in Damascus, the blast caused huge material damage. There are also reports of a bomb explosion near the northern city of Jisr al-Shughur, though no details have been made available on potential casualties. Syrian troops also managed to defuse a car bomb in a Damascus suburb.