Israel reportedly told Pentagon about Syria poison gas

Syrian President Bashar Assad at the Opera House in Damascus in this video grab on Jan. 6. Photo by Syrian TV via Reuters TV/Reuters

Israel notified the Pentagon that Syria was preparing a chemical believed to be deadly sarin gas and loading it into dozens of 500-pound bombs destined for airplanes.

Israel's warning to the United States at the end of November, involving intelligence showing up on satellite imagery, brought together the U.S., Arab states, Russia and China to deal with Syria's deadly civil war, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The quick action put a halt to the bomb preparation and reduced the threat to the Syrian rebels for the time being, but the bombs could be put to use at any time, according to the newspaper.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly traveled to Jordan in recent weeks to discuss how to deal with Syrian weapons if they were transferred to Hezbollah in Lebanon, where they could be shot at Israel, The New York Times reported, citing Israeli media.