Amid Syria Chaos, Israelis Seek Gas Masks
Israeli gas mask kit distribution centers are facing increased demand in response to fighting in Syria.
Maariv and the Times of Israel reported that distribution centers have given out 3,700 masks per day on Monday and Tuesday, and 4.2 million total.
Haaretz reported, however, that 47 percent of Israel is still without masks. On average, since 2010, the distribution centers have given out 2,200 kits per day.
The increased demand comes as Israeli leaders fear that Syrian chemical weapons could fall into the hands of Hebollah, a terrorist group in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday that the transfer of such weapons would be a “clear casus belli,” according to the Times of Israel.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO