Israel launched an airstrike on a suspected Syrian weapons site. The strike occurred early Friday morning and appeared to hit a warehouse, according to the Associated Press.
"What we can say is that Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian regime to terrorists, specially to Hezbollah in Lebanon," Israeli Embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui said.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said earlier this week that his group would aid Syrian President Bashar Assad if asked.
Israel has a history of targeting weapons in the past that it believes are headed to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group. A 34-day military conflict ensued between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Israel also bombed a suspected nuclear reactor in northeastern Syria in 2007.
The Israeli airstrike on Friday occurred amid rising concern that Syria might be using chemical weapons on insurgents.
Hours before the airstrike, President Barack Obama told reporters that he didn't anticipate the United States sending troops into Syria. The strike wasn't believed to have hit a chemical weapons site. Obama has said that it will be a "game-changer" with "enormous consequences" if Syria is discovered using chemical weapons on its own people.
The U.S. has provided nonlethal aid to opposition forces in Syria's two-year-old uprising. American lawmakers have called for the White House to provide arms to the rebels or establish a no-fly zone over Syria.
Obama has thus far resisted. However, on Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the administration is rethinking its opposition to providing weapons to the Syrian rebels. U.S. Officials suggests earlier in the week that arming the rebels is more likely than any other kind of military intervention.
Obama is evaluating all options.
"We want to make sure that we look before we leap and that what we're doing is actually helpful to the situation as opposed to making it more deadly or more complex," Obama said on Thursday.
