Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday morning that Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered the chemical attack in northwestern Syria, which killed up to 100 people, many of them children, and injured hundreds of others.

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Lieberman told Yedioth Ahronoth that Syrian planes carried out the two chemical attacks, which were “directly ordered and planned by Syrian President Bashar Assad.” He stressed he was “100 percent certain.” The defense minister said he did not know if Russia was involved in the attack.

Open gallery view FILE PHOTO: Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman at a political event in 2016. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

>> Syria chemical attack approved by highest levels of Assad regime, Israel believes <<

Lieberman stated that Israel has no reason to get involved in the war. “Why do we need to pull the chestnuts out of the fire? This is the international community’s responsibility,” he said. “I am not prepared to be the schmuck that the whole world pisses on. Let the world take responsibility and do something rather than just talk.”

He added: “The international community's response is zilch. It simply doesn’t exist. It brings me back to the conclusion that Israel must rely only on itself.”

After the attack, Israeli security sources told Haaretz that reports that the the Assad regime was responsible for the deadly chemical attack are highly probable.

Sources in Israel said that the assault, which killed at least 100 civilians and injured hundreds more, was approved by the highest levels of the Syrian regime, but at this point it is unclear whether Assad’s patrons, Russia and Iran, were involved.