According to Israeli military intelligence, Syrian President Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons against civilians.

Head of the research division, Brigade General Itai Brun, announced his team’s findings at today’s conference of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

According to sources, he said: “To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has used lethal chemical weapons on a number of occasions.”

Brig Gen Brun showed photographs of Syrian victims who had “foam coming out of their mouths” as proof that Mr Assad has used nerve gas sarin to harm civilians.

He added: "In Syria there is a large arsenal of chemical weapons, more than a thousand tons of chemicals, thousands of aerial bombs and quite a lot of warheads and surface-to-surface missiles that can be armed with chemical weapons."

When asked about greater concerns in regards to chemical weapons being used by terrorists, Brig Gen Brun said: “We should be very worried about them falling into the hands of those who do not conduct gain-loss considerations.”

Brig Gen Brun also criticised the global community's response to events in Syria. He said: "The response of the world on this issue reflects the same trend of limited influence and a predisposition not to intervene."