Syrian Foreign Ministry legal adviser Ibrahim Olabi said Israeli airstrikes on Damascus on 16 July have disrupted the country’s efforts to locate and destroy chemical weapons left over from the rule of former president Bashar al-Assad. The raids damaged parts of the defence ministry in the capital and forced authorities to postpone a planned inspection by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Olabi told reporters on Thursday. A document published by the OPCW shows the watchdog will hold an urgent meeting on 22 July at Qatar’s request to assess how the strikes affect Syria’s ability to meet its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Inspectors had made several preparatory visits since March to previously unexamined sites, but the latest mission could not proceed because the facilities that coordinate such trips were hit, the adviser said. Israel confirmed it carried out the strikes, saying they were aimed at stopping Syrian government forces that it claims threaten Druze communities in southern Syria. While Israel rarely comments on wider strategic objectives, the action underscores the fragile security environment confronting efforts to dismantle the remnants of Assad-era chemical stockpiles in a country still riven by conflict.