There is a growing sentiment that the United States will be attacking in Syria following last week’s use of chemical weapons. While Israel is not pushing the United States to act, Jerusalem is seeking advanced notice and requests being kept in the loop by Pentagon officials.

With American forces moving closer to Syria, official sources in the United States over the weekend confirm that the Pentagon has updated is bank of Syrian targets ahead of a possible military offensive. Many feel that President Barak Obama is left without alternatives as Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad crossed all the US-defined red lines with the chemical weaponry.

At the start of the weekly Sunday cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed events in Syria for the media, stating “What happened in Syria is both a terrible tragedy and an awful crime. Our hearts go out to the women, children and babies, the civilians who were so brutally attacked by weapons of mass destruction. From this we draw three conclusions: One, this situation must not be allowed to continue. Two, the most dangerous regimes in the world must not be allowed to possess the most dangerous weapons in the world. And three, we expect that this will stop, of course, but we must always remember our sages’ ancient principle: If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us?

“That is to say, our finger must always be on the pulse. Ours is a responsible finger and if necessary, it will also be on the trigger. We will always know to defend our people and our state against whoever attacks us, tries to attack us or has attacked us. This is the principle that has consistently, constantly and responsibly guided this government, and thus it will continue.”

There are reports of urgent meetings taking place between senior US and Israeli officials, including a phone meeting between Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz .Saudi Arabia’s minister of information lashed out against the United States over the weekend for condemning Syria’s use of chemical weapons based on reports, without conducting its own investigation.

Representatives of militaries from Saudi Arabia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates will be meeting in Jordan to discuss the ongoing civil war in Syria. The meeting will be hosted by Dempsey. IDF Chief Gantz will not be attending.

There is a growing sentiment that President Obama will carry out some type of military offensive against Syria even without the backing of the UN Security Council.

America’s Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel over the weekend confirmed there is bank of targets, with senior American officials confirming the reports of the use of chemical warfare by Assad. In a weekend interview with CNN, the US president hinted final pre-attack arrangements are underway.

While Syrian officials continue to deny reports of the use of chemical warfare, Maariv and news agencies worldwide tell a different story. Doctors without Borders reported 3,600 victims of chemical attacks were treated on the day of the attack within 3 hours of that attack. That number includes 355 fatalities. The total death toll from chemical attacks seems to have climbed to over 1,000.

In Israel, alert status has become the norm. Last week’s katyusha attacks into northern Israel were a trial balloon according to some, explaining terrorists were testing the waters for a possible large-scale attack in the event Syria is attacked.

Syria’s opposition forces released a message that rebel forces on Sunday, 19 Elul 5773 received 400 tons of weapons from Turkey, Walla News reports. 20 trucks crossed the border from Turkey, heading for rebel forces storage facilities.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)