Syria chemical attack death toll hits 72

He blamed the attack squarely on Syrian President Bashar Assad. But Russia, a Syrian ally, and China have repeatedly vetoed any United Nations move to sanction Assad or refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

The draft resolution backs a probe by the Organisation of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and demands that Syria cooperate to provide information on its military operations on the day of the assault.

Trump acknowledged Jordan’s role in hosting refugees from the conflict in Syria and announced that the US will contribute more funds to the country for humanitarian assistance, saying that the goal of “any responsible refugee policy” is to pave the way for refugees to return home.

After Tuesday’s attack in Syria, the White House pinned the blame on the Obama administration, saying in a statement that the attack was “a effect of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution”.

A Syrian opposition figure said it was a effect of recent US statements suggesting a focus on stopping Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants rather than ousting Assad. If confirmed, the attack would be one of the worst chemical attacks in Syria in six years of civil war. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. He suggested that the attack that killed 72 people had cut into his former reluctance to plunge the US further into the complex and unsafe turmoil in the Middle East.

It remains unclear what kind of substance was used in the attack, but the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that some victims appeared to show signs of exposure to “nerve agents”.

The team also visited other hospitals where casualties were being treated “and reported that victims smelled of bleach, suggesting they had been exposed to chlorine”.

He added that the same type of chemical weapons had been previously used by rebels in Aleppo, where they had caused symptoms similar to those seen in images from Khan Sheikhoun.

An emergency Security Council meeting are to vote on a security Council resolution put forward by the United States, Britain and France just hours after Pope Francis described the latest atrocity in Syria – a conflict which has claimed the lives of an estimated 500,000 people, as an “unacceptable massacre”.

“We need to wait for the full investigation to take place, but, as I said, this bears all the hallmarks of a regime attack”.

At the White House on Tuesday, the president’s spokesman Sean Spicer was asked several time how the administration might respond to the attack in Syria.

Over half Syria’s population has been displaced internally and overseas since the conflict began, with regional neighbours hosting most of those who have become refugees.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri says people should not be shocked by the chemical attack that killed dozens in Syria because the global community is allowing such acts to happen.

For Trump’s critics, though, it wasn’t enough. Sen. “No”, she said last week. Tillerson did accuse both Russian Federation and Iran, Syria’s other top ally, of sharing moral responsibility in his own statement on Tuesday.

“This was a moment the president could have spoken with moral authority and with the beginning of an outline of a strategy”, Casey said. “We will see more pictures that we can never unsee”. “When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal that people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line, many many lines”.

The White House comments are the latest signal that the USA acknowledges Assad’s ability to remain in power despite a six-year civil war that saw much of his country fall into rebel and terrorist hands before Russian Federation intervened on his behalf in 2015. Syrian chemical weapons attacks continued after the deal.

Trump earlier criticized the Tuesday attacks that left at least 72 civilians dead during a photo opportunity in the Oval Office this morning with King Abdullah.