The Associated Press notes that Mattis did not specify the size of Syria's illegal chemical arsenal, but Israeli defense officials said this week that Syria has retained up to three tons of such weapons.
Some U.S. officials believe nearly all of Syria's military aircraft have been relocated into close proximity with the Russian base to make it harder for U.S. missile strikes to wipe out the Syrian air force.
Mattis also reiterated that the USA believed Syria had retained some chemical weapons.
Tel Aviv - US Secretary of Defense James Mattis drew on Friday a "red line" against head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad, warning that the latter would pay the price if he uses chemical weapons again.
"No doubt they have dispersed their aircraft in recent days", he said.
On Thursday, Western delegations to the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) rejected a call from Russian Federation and Iran for a new probe into the alleged nerve gas attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun.
The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on the situation in the Middle East on Thursday, and certain permanent members of the Security Council said they are still dedicated to finding the source of the alleged use of chemical attacks in in Syria.
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He has said repeatedly that his forces turned over all chemical weapons stockpiles in 2013, under a deal brokered by Russian Federation to avoid threatened U.S. military action.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons, a global watchdog, said sarin or a similar banned toxin was used in the April 4 strike in Syria's Idlib province.
Mattis also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
The new sanctions are the latest US response to Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons, most recently in rebel-held northern Idlib, in an attack that killed more than 80 civilians.
Later on Friday, air raid sirens sounded in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights when two mortars fired from the Syrian side of the frontier struck an open area, causing no damage or injuries, Israel's military said.
Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering mostly sporadic, spillover, incidents of fire.
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