Israel bombs Syrian chemical weapons factory

Israeli warplanes struck a Syrian chemical weapons factory Thursday, killing two workers, according to Syrian military officials. The strike came a day after UN war crimes investigators said they had an “extensive body of information” indicating Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces dropped sarin gas on the town of Khan Sheikhun in April, killing about 80 people. U.S. intelligence indicated scientists produced the gas at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center near the Mediterranean coast. The Israeli military declined to discuss the strikes, which involved four fighter jets, according to Syrian opposition forces. Israel has launched previous attacks in Syria but they mostly targeted weapons convoys or storage sites. Syria has provided weapons for Hezbollah, the Islamic militant group based in Lebanon, and analysts believe Israeli intelligence must have indicated workers at the targeted site were producing weapons for export. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week accused Iran of building factories in Syria and Lebanon to produce precision-guided missiles.