Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the reported recent chemical weapons attack in Syria as “terribly disturbing” Thursday and said that it shows why “we cannot allow the world’s most dangerous regimes to acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

“The reported use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians is terribly disturbing. If verified, it will be a horrible addition to the roster of tragic crimes committed by the Syrian regime against the people of Syria,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu also tied the situation in Syria to Iranian regional ambitions, saying, “Syria has become Iran’s testing ground, and Iran is closely watching whether and how the world responds to the atrocities committed by Iran’s client state Syria and by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah against innocent civilians in Syria.”

On Thursday, Israeli officials corroborated the claim of Syrian rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, that his army used chemical weapons against civilians in a Wednesday attack in eastern neighborhoods of Damascus that killed more than 1,300 people. Meanwhile, a Syrian rebel leader said his group was desperate for outside intervention from Israel and the U.S. to stop Assad.