Fearing a possible US strike against neighboring Syria that could spill across their northern border, Israelis are scurrying to replace old or missing gas masks, an official said on Tuesday.

"Since the beginning of the week there has been a significant rise in the number of calls to our enquiry center, a fourfold increase," said a spokeswoman for the Israel Postal Service, which distributes the gas masks.

She said orders for masks were up 300 percent compared to "normal" days, and there was also an uptick in the number of people visiting distribution centers, but she gave no figures for such visits. Gas masks were first distributed to the general public during the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait.

AFP

(China Daily 08/28/2013 page12)