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Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday that a poisonous gas contamination in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun was the result of gas leaking from a rebel chemical weapons depot after it was hit by Syrian government air strikes.

It is believed that up to 100 people, including 20 children, are dead following the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, with the latest official death toll being reported as 72, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It is believed that another 400 people were injured after being exposed to toxins during the attack. 

The Russian defence ministry said in a statement that the building housed 'a warehouse making bombs, with toxic substances', without saying if the strike was accidental or deliberate. 

The ministry said the 'arsenal of chemical weapons' was intended for fighters in Iraq, describing its information as 'completely reliable and objective.' 

'Yesterday, from 11.30am to 12.30pm local time, Syrian aviation made a strike on a large terrorist ammunition depot and a concentration of military hardware in the eastern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun town,' Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konoshenkov said in a statement posted on YouTube.

'On the territory of the depot there were workshops which produced chemical warfare munitions,' he said, adding that the chemical munitions had been used by rebels in Aleppo last year. 

'The poisoning symptoms of the victims in Khan Sheikhoun shown on videos in social networks are the same as they were in autumn of the previous year in Aleppo,' Konoshenkov said.

The United States has blamed the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the attack, while British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also suggested the attack was caused by the Assad regime.  

'All the evidence I have seen suggests this was the Assad regime... using illegal weapons on their own people,' Johnson said as he arrived for a Syria aid conference in Brussels.

'What it confirms to everybody is that this is a barbaric regime which has made it impossible for us to imagine them (having) authority over Syria after this conflict,' he added. 

US president Donald Trump called the chemical attack a 'heinous' act that 'cannot be ignored by the civilised world'. 

 Up to 100 people have died from suffocation after a toxic gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in the rebel-held central province of Idlib, Syria, early Tuesday morning. Pictured above, a child gets treatment at a hospital after Assad Regime forces attacked

The United States has blamed the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the attack, while British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also suggested the attack was caused by the Assad regime. Pictured above, Syrian Veda Ajej, 35, receives treatment at Reyhanli State Hospital in Hatay, Turkey, following the attack

Syrian Mahmut Mansur, 14, receives treatment at Reyhanli State Hospital in Hatay, Turkey, after the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, a town of the Idlib district of Syria

An injured Syrian boy is being brought to Reyhanli State Hospital in Hatay, Turkey, to receive treatment after Tuesday's gas attack

 It is believed that 400 people were injured after being exposed to toxins during the attack. A child gets treatment at a makeshift hospital in Khan Shaykhun on Tuesday

The death toll is likely to rise, according to the Union of Medical Care Organizations, a coalition of international aid agencies that funds hospitals in Syria and which is partly based in Paris. Pictured above, a child is treated by Syrian doctors at a makeshift hospital in Khan Sheikhoun following the chemical attack

Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday that a poisonous gas contamination in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun was the result of gas leaking from a rebel chemical weapons depot after it was hit by Syrian government air strikes. Pictured above, children in Syria following the attacks

An interior view of a hospital, hit by Assad Regime's airstrike, following a previous Assad regime's strike staged with chlorine gas in Khan Shaykhun on Tuesday

Doctors treating victims at makeshift hospitals in the area say dozens of victims from Khan Sheikhoun are showing signs of sarin poisoning, including foaming at the mouth, breathing difficulties and limp bodies. 

Moments after the attack a projectile hit a hospital in the area, bringing down rubble on top of medics as they struggled to treat victims. 

Syrian opposition activists have claimed the chemical attack was caused by an airstrike carried out either by President Assad's forces or Russian warplanes. Russia's military said its planes did not carry out any strikes near the town.   

The death toll is likely to rise, according to the Union of Medical Care Organizations, a coalition of international aid agencies that funds hospitals in Syria and which is partly based in Paris. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed had died from suffocation and the effects of the gas. The monitor could not confirm the nature of the gas, and said the strike was likely carried out by government warplanes.

A senior Syrian security source, however, claims that allegations that Syria's government killed dozens of civilians on Tuesday in a chemical attack on a northwestern rebel-held town are 'false'. 

Theresa May said sarin gas use was proven, it would be further evidence of the 'barbarism of the Syrian regime'. A CBRN investigative team (pictured) has crossed the Turkish border and is en route to collect evidence

At least 11 of the 100 people who died in the chemical attack were children. Doctors treating victims at makeshift hospitals in the area say dozens of victims from Khan Sheikhoun are showing signs of sarin poisoning

Many victims, including children, were stripped down to their underwear and sprayed with hoses as activists tried to wash the gas off of them. Pictured above, a Syrian child receives treatment following the attack

The death toll is likely to rise, according to the Union of Medical Care Organizations, a coalition of international aid agencies that funds hospitals in Syria and which is partly based in Paris. Pictured above, Syrian children receive treatment following the suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhun on Tuesday

A medical doctor going by the name of Dr. Shajul Islam on Twitter said his hospital in Idlib province received three victims, all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond to light. Pictured above, a Syrian child receives treatment following the attack

Civilians were seen carrying unconscious children to makeshift hospitals in hopes of receiving treatment following the attack

Some victims were foaming at the mouth following the toxin attack - a symptom of the poison sarin, which is used as a chemical weapon

People collapsed outside during the attacks on Tuesday, something that usually only happens when banned nerve agents are involved

WORLD LEADERS REACT: INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF SARIN GAS ATTACK 

Theresa May has called for an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria

Theresa May has called for an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria as she condemned the atrocity which has claimed the lives of dozens of people.

The Prime Minister called on Russia to ensure Bashar Assad's regime is brought to an end. 

Mrs May said: 'I'm appalled by the reports that there's been a chemical weapons attack on a town south of Idlib allegedly by the Syrian regime.

'We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances.

'If proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism of the Syrian regime, and the UK has led international efforts to call to account the Syrian regime and Daesh for the use of chemical weapons and I would urge the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate this incident as soon as possible.

'I'm very clear that there can be no future for Assad in a stable Syria which is representative of all the Syrian people and I call on all the third parties involved to ensure that we have a transition away from Assad.

'We cannot allow this suffering to continue.' 

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also suggested the attack was caused by the Assad regime.  

'All the evidence I have seen suggests this was the Assad regime... using illegal weapons on their own people,' Johnson said as he arrived for a Syria aid conference in Brussels.

'What it confirms to everybody is that this is a barbaric regime which has made it impossible for us to imagine them (having) authority over Syria after this conflict,' he added. 

French President Francois Hollande accused Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad of responsibility for the 'massacre'. 

'Once again the Syrian regime will deny the evidence of its responsibility for this massacre,' Hollande said in a statement.

'Those who support this regime can once again reflect on the enormity of their political, strategic and moral responsibility,' Hollande added.

France called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the attack. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the world must act to rid Syria of chemical weapons.  

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson suggested the chemical attack on Tuesday was caused by the Assad regime, calling it a 'war crime'.He's pictured above, second left, with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, left, as they stand for a moment of silence for the Syrian victims of war at an EU Syria conference at the Europa building in Brussels on March 9

'When I saw pictures of babies suffocating from a chemical attack in Syria, I was shocked and outraged,' Netanyahu's office quoted him as saying.

'I call on the international community to fulfil its obligation from 2013 to fully and finally remove these horrible weapons from Syria.'

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked appealed specifically for action from the United States.

'We have an obligation to cry out to the nations of the world, and especially to President (Donald) Trump, to stop this atrocity,' she said, adding that chemical warfare in neighbouring Syria 'also has strategic implications for Israel'. 

Eager to show strength after a major provocation, President Donald Trump denounced the chemical attack, blaming it on Syrian President Bashar Assad but staying coy about how, if at all, the United States may respond.

Trump split the blame Tuesday between Syria's embattled leader and former President Barack Obama for the country's worst chemical weapons attack in years. While calling the attack 'reprehensible' and intolerable, Trump reserved some of his harshest critique for his predecessor, who he said 'did nothing' after Assad in 2013 crossed Obama's own 'red line.'

'These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution,' Trump said.

Yet there were no indications Trump had a plan to prevent future atrocities that was any different from Obama's. Asked how Trump might respond, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said he wasn't yet ready to discuss it.

'We'll talk about that soon,' Spicer added.

Mr Trump left it to his top diplomat, secretary of state Rex Tillerson, to assign at least some blame to Russia and Iran, the most powerful allies of Assad.

Mr Tillerson called on both countries to use their influence over Assad to prevent future chemical weapons attacks and noted Russia's and Iran's roles in helping broker a ceasefire through diplomatic talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

'As the self-proclaimed guarantors to the ceasefire negotiated in Astana, Russia and Iran also bear great moral responsibility for these deaths,' he said.

'This is a false accusation,' the source said, adding that opposition forces were attempting to 'achieve in the media what they could not achieve on the ground'. 

Its denials have done little to quiet international condemnation, with UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday saying the 'horrific events' showed that 'war crimes are going on in Syria'. 

The attack unfolded in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with airplanes carrying out strikes that released 'toxic gas' on Khan Sheikun, in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to witnesses and a monitoring group.

'We ran inside the houses and saw whole families just dead in their beds,' resident Abu Mustafa told AFP of the attack's aftermath. 'Children, women, old people dead in the streets.'

Following news of the attack, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called the attack a 'war crime', saying that it 'bears all hallmarks of an attack by the regime which has repeatedly used chemical weapons'. 

Prime Minister Theresa May has called for an investigation into the attack saying: 'If proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism of the Syrian regime.'  

Local reports quoted doctors saying the chemical that killed dozens of people in the region could have been chlorine or sarin, a colorless, odorless liquid nerve agent that's used as a chemical weapon. 

Chlorine attacks are used quite often in Syira, to kill small groups of people in enclosed spaces where gas dissipates quickly, according to the New York Times. 

But Tuesday's attack was different: people collapsed outdoors, in large numbers and suffered different symptoms.  

Volunteers wrote the names of victims who could be identified on their shrouds after they were killed in airstrikes which hit the civilian areas of Douma

An unconscious Syrian child is carried at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, following the gas attack

Victims foamed at the mouth and had pinpoint pupils - a side effect that happens when people come into contact with nerve agents and other banned toxins.   

A Syrian military source denied that government forces used any such weapons, saying the army 'does not and has not' used chemical weapons 'not in the past and not in the future'. 

A series of investigations by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that various parties in the Syrian war have used chlorine, sulfur mustard gas and sarin. 

Still, Damascus has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. 

Victims suffered from fainting, vomiting, foaming at the mouth and pinpoint pupils, medical sources told local reports.

Activists in northern Syria circulated pictures on social media showing a reported victim with foam around his mouth, and rescue workers hosing down almost naked children squirming on the floor.  

Many patients had to receive help breathing following the attack, as one of the several symptoms of sarin is having trouble breathing

A boy covers his face with his hands as doctors evaluate wounds to his legs and feet following the toxin attack on Tuesday

An unconscious Syrian child is carried at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province

A man gets treatment at a hospital after Assad Regime forces released a suspected toxic gas on to Khan Shaykhun

Sarin, which is made by combining the fluorine in sodium fluoride with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and phosphorous, is considered one of the world's most dangerous chemical warfare agents. Pictured above, a Syrian man receives treatment after an alleged chemical attack at a field hospital in Saraqib, Idlib

The government denies the use of chemical weapons and has in turn accused rebels of using banned weapons. Pictured above, a wounded kid receives treatment following the attach

A Syrian military source denied that government forces used chemical weapons, saying the army 'does not and has not' used chemical weapons 'not in the past and not in the future'. Pictured above children are treated following the attach

The activist-run Assi Press published video of paramedics carrying victims from the scene by a pickup truck. The victims were stripped down to their underwear. Many appeared unresponsive.  

Syrian activists said that makeshift hospitals soon crowded with people suffocating from toxins following the attack.

A medical doctor going by the name of Dr Shajul Islam on Twitter said his hospital in Idlib province received three victims, all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond to light. 

He published video of the patients on his Twitter account.

Pinpoint pupils, breathing difficulties, and foaming at the mouth are symptoms commonly associated with toxic gas exposure.

'Our hospital getting full from sarin attack today,' he wrote of his hospital in Hama, which is a short drive away from Khan Sheikhoun. 'Anyone that wants evidence, I will video call you.' 

Dr Islam, who trained in the UK and now works in northern Syria, said that seriously ill patients were still 'flooding' into his hospital.

'The patients keep just flooding in from this chemical attack,' he says in a Twitter video , purportedly taken inside a Syrian hospital this morning. 'Every one - every one - has got pinpoint pupils'.

'The patients keep coming, we've run out of ventilators,' the humanitarian aid added. 

'We don't have enough ventilator space, so we're now taking out the transport ventilators we have in our ambulances and we're going to try to modify them to see if we can use them for our patients.' 

Dr Islam said that it was 'definitely not a chlorine attack', suggesting that the more severe sarin was used.  

Footage from his hospital shows adults and children lying on hospital beds unresponsive, as medics work to save their lives.  

'I will show you the evidence again and again, but you know what? The world doesn't care and no-one is doing anything,' says Dr Islam. 'We urge you to put pressure on your government - put pressure on anyone - to help us.'   

Mohammed Hassoun, a media activist in nearby Sarmin - also in Idlib province where some of the critical cases were transferred - said the hospital there had been equipped to deal with such chemical attacks because the town was struck in one chemical attack, early on in the Syrian uprising.

The wounded have been 'distributed around in rural Idlib', he told The Associated Press by phone. 

'There are 18 critical cases here. They were unconscious, they had seizures and when oxygen was administered, they bled from the nose and mouth,' he added.

Hassoun, who is documenting the attack for the medical society, said the doctors there have said it is likely more than one gas. 'Chlorine gas doesn't cause such convulsions,' he said, adding that doctors suspect sarin was used. 

An AFP journalist in Khan Sheikhun saw a young girl, a woman and two elderly people dead at a hospital, with foam still visible around their mouths.

Doctors at the facility were using basic equipment, some not even wearing lab coats, and attempting to revive patients who were not breathing.

A father carried his dead little girl, her lips blueish and her dark curls visible, wrapped in a blue sheet.

As doctors worked, a warplane circled overhead, striking first near the facility and then hitting it twice, bringing rubble down on medics and patients.  

Following news of the attack, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, said he was 'horrified' by what had happened. 

He said of Tuesday's incident: 'I am horrified by the reports of an attack near Idlib in Syria. The reports we are receiving strongly suggest the use of chemical weapons. 

'And although we cannot yet be certain about what has happened, this bears all the hallmarks of an attack by the regime which has repeatedly used chemical weapons. 

'The UK condemns the use of chemical weapons wherever and by whomever they are used and we will continue to lead international efforts to hold perpetrators to account. 

'We continue to support the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and will work closely with them as they seek to investigate this latest incident. 

'If this is shown to be the work of the regime, it is further evidence of the atrocities perpetrated against the Syrian people over six years of appalling conflict.' 

Local reports quoted doctors saying the chemical that killed dozens of people in the region could have been chlorine or sarin, a colorless, odorless liquid nerve agent that's used as a chemical weapon 

Victims suffered from fainting, vomiting, foaming at the mouth and pin-point pupils, medical sources told local reports. Pictured above, a Syrian man receives treatment following the gas attack

Mohammed Hassoun, a media activist in nearby Sarmin - also in Idlib province where some of the critical cases were transferred - said the hospital there had been equipped to deal with such chemical attacks because the town was struck in one chemical attack, early on in the Syrian uprising Syrian activists said that makeshift hospitals soon crowded with people suffocating from toxins following the attack

Idlib province is largely controlled by an alliance of rebels including former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front. Civil defense members tried to reduce the effects of chlorine gas with water as they carried out search and rescue works after a suspected chlorine gas attack in Idlib, Syria

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed had died from suffocation and the effects of the gas. Symptoms of sarin poison include foaming at the mouth and having trouble breathing

Local reports quoted doctors saying the chemical could have been chlorine or Sarin, a colorless, odorless liquid nerve agent that's used as a chemical weapon

Moments after the attack a projectile hit a hospital in the area, bringing down rubble on top of medics as they struggled to treat victims

DOCTOR TELLS OF HORRORS AFTER TOXIN ATTACK 

A medical doctor going by the name of Dr. Shajul Islam on Twitter said his hospital in Idlib province received three victims, all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond to light. 

He published video of the patients on his Twitter account.

Pinpoint pupils, breathing difficulties, and foaming at the mouth are symptoms commonly associated with toxic gas exposure.

'Our hospital getting full from sarin attack today,' he wrote of his hospital in Hama, which is a short drive away from Khan Sheikhoun. 'Anyone that wants evidence, I will video call you.' 

Dr Islam, who trained in the UK and now works in northern Syria, said that seriously ill patients were still 'flooding' into his hospital.

A medical doctor going by the name of Dr. Shajul Islam on Twitter said his hospital in Idlib province received three victims, all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond to light

Dr Islam said that his hospital in Hama, which is a short drive away from Khan Sheikhoun, received several victims of a suspected sarin attack

'The patients keep just flooding in from this chemical attack,' he says in a Twitter video , purportedly taken inside a Syrian hospital this morning. 'Every one - every one - has got pinpoint pupils'.

'The patients keep coming, we've run out of ventilators,' the humanitarian aid added. 

'We don't have enough ventilator space, so we're now taking out the transport ventilators we have in our ambulances and we're going to try to modify them to see if we can use them for our patients.' 

Dr Islam said that it was 'definitely not a chlorine attack', suggesting that the more severe sarin was used.  

Footage from his hospital shows adults and children lying on hospital beds unresponsive, as medics work to save their lives.  

'I will show you the evidence again and again, but you know what? The world doesn't care and no-one is doing anything,' says Dr Islam. 'We urge you to put pressure on your government - put pressure on anyone - to help us.' 

Dr Islam said that it was 'definitely not a chlorine attack', suggesting that the more severe sarin was used. Footage from his hospital shows adults and children lying on hospital beds unresponsive, as medics work to save their lives.

Doctors at the facility were using basic equipment, and attempting to revive patients who were not breathing following the attack

An AFP journalist in Khan Sheikhun saw a young girl, a woman and two elderly people dead at a hospital, with foam still visible around their mouths.

Doctors at the facility were using basic equipment, some not even wearing lab coats, and attempting to revive patients who were not breathing.

A father carried his dead little girl, her lips blueish and her dark curls visible, wrapped in a blue sheet.

As doctors worked, a warplane circled overhead, striking first near the facility and then hitting it twice, bringing rubble down on medics and patients. 

In a video posted online by Idlib's local medical directorate, a doctor described patient symptoms as he treated a child.

'We are seeing unconsciousness, convulsions, pinpoint pupils, severe foaming, and lack of oxygen,' he said.

Dr Islam, who trained in the UK and now works in northern Syria, said that seriously ill patients were still 'flooding' into his hospital

He later added: 'If this were proved to have been committed by the Assad regime, it would be another reason to think they are an absolutely heinous outfit.

'Bombing your own civilians with chemical weapons is unquestionably a war crime and they must be held to account.

'It is unbelievable to think that in the long term, Bashar Assad can play a part in the future of Syria, given what he has done to his people.'

The province of Idlib is almost entirely controlled by the Syrian opposition and is largely controlled by an alliance of rebels including former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front. 

It is regularly targeted in strikes by the regime, as well as Russian warplanes, and has also been hit by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, usually targeting jihadists. 

But the province is home to some 900,000 displaced Syrians, according to the United Nations. 

The reports came on the eve of a major international meeting in Brussels on the future of Syria and the region hosted by the EU's High Representative, Federica Mogherini.

Claims of chemical weapons attacks, particularly the use of the chlorine agent, are not uncommon in Syria's conflict. 

The worst attack was what a UN report said was an attack by toxic sarin gas in August 2013 on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta that killed hundreds of civilians. 

Rebels and opposition officials have expressed concerns that the government is planning to mount a concentrated attack on the crowded province.

The Syrian Coalition, an opposition group based outside the country, said government planes fired missiles carrying poisonous gases on Khan Sheikhoun, describing the attack as a 'horrifying massacre'. 

Syria's government officially joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and turned over its chemical arsenal in 2013, as part of a deal to avert US military action.

But there have been repeated allegations of chemical weapons use by the government since then, with a UN-led investigation pointing the finger at the regime for at least three chlorine attacks in 2014 and 2015. 

The government denies the use of chemical weapons and has in turn accused rebels of using banned weapons.

Tuesday's attack comes only days after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were accused of using chemical weapons in a counter-offensive in neighbouring Hama province. 

Syria's opposition National Coalition accused President Bashar al-Assad's government of a suspected toxic, and demanded a UN investigation. 

'The National Coalition demands the Security Council convene an emergency session..., open an immediate investigation and take the necessary measures to ensure the officials, perpetrators and supporters are held accountable,' the body said in a statement.

Syrian and Russian air strikes have battered parts of Idlib, according to the Observatory, despite a ceasefire that Turkey and Russia brokered in December.

Jets also struck the town of Salqin in the north of Idlib province on Tuesday, killing eight people, the monitor said.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the suspected attack, Turkish presidential sources said. 

They said the two leaders had also emphasised the importance of maintaining the ceasefire. Turkey's foreign minister called the attack a crime against humanity. 

A civil defence member breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun

A man breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun

A Syrian doctor helped a boy following the suspected attack, which has been described as one of the worst in the country's six-year civil war

Idlib is regularly targeted in strikes by the regime, as well as Russian warplanes, and has also been hit by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, usually targeting jihadists. pictured above, a victim of a suspected chemical attack as he receives treatment at a makeshift hospital

A Syrian man is taken by civil defence workers to a small hospital in the town of Maaret al-Noman following the suspected sarin attack

People stand near a dead body, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria

The European Union's top diplomat says Syrian President Bashar Assad's government must assume its responsibilities following reports of a suspected chemical attacks in northern Syria that killed dozens of people.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday that 'the news is awful' and that Assad's government 'has the primary responsibility of protecting its people and not attacking its people', while Syria's opposition warned it 'calls the political process into question'. 

She said the attack in a town in Idlib province 'is a dramatic reminder of the fact that the first priority is, as in any conflict, stopping the fighting.'  

If confirmed, it would be one of the worst chemical attacks since the start of Syria's civil war six years ago.

The international chemical weapons watchdog says it is gathering and analyzing information about the suspected chemical attack.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says its Fact Finding Mission 'is in the process of gathering and analyzing information from all available sources.' 

The mission will report its findings to the OPCW's executive council. Syria joined the organization in 2013.

The organization, which won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for its chemical disarmament efforts, says it 'strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere and under any circumstances.'  

Also on Tuesday, Russian warcrafts allegedly carried out airstrikes at Ravda Mosque and market in Salkin, another town in the rebel-controlled province of Idlib, Syria. Pictured above, a wounded man gets treatment following the air strikes

A rescue team workers and civilians search for bodies under the rubble after Russian warcrafts allegedly carried out airstrikes at Ravda Mosque and market in Salkin town of Idlib, Syria, on Tuesday

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday, he was 'shocked and outraged' by images of the victims of Tuesday's attack and called on the international community to 'fully and finally remove these horrible weapons from Syria'. 

France's foreign minister is calling for an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the suspected chemical attack. 

Jean-Marc Ayrault condemned the 'monstrous' and 'atrocious act' in a statement Tuesday, saying he is seeking the emergency meeting because of events of extreme gravity 'that threaten international security.' 

France has supported Syrian rebels against President Bashar Assad for years, and lobbied for an international military campaign against Assad over his use of chemical weapons in 2013. France is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. 

On Thursday, air strikes on several areas in the north of Hama province left around 50 people suffering respiratory problems, according to the Observatory, which could not confirm the cause of the symptoms.

The monitor relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

Tuesday's gathering in Brussels has been billed as a follow-up to a donors' conference last year in London, which raised about $11 billion (10 billion euros) for humanitarian aid programmes in the devastated country.

SYRIAN AIR RAID KILLS 22 CIVILIANS IN DOUMA

Syrian jets on Monday bombed residential areas in the eastern countryside of Damascus killing and injuring dozens in some of the heaviest bombing raids on the main rebel enclave near the capital in months, residents and activists said.

At least 22 people were killed and scores injured after four aerial raids hit a crowded district in the city of Douma, the main urban centre of the Eastern Ghouta rebel stronghold to the east of the capital.

Many other bodies were still under the rubble, civil workers said.

A man stands next to an injured boy inside a field hospital after airstrikes reportedly hit on civilian areas of Douma, Sirya, on Monday, killing 22 people 

At least 22 people were killed and scores injured after four aerial raids hit a crowded district in the city of Douma, the main urban centre of the Eastern Ghouta rebel stronghold to the east of the capital. Pictured above, a view of injured people inside a field hospital after airstrikes reportedly hit on civilian areas of Douma

A Syrian boy receives treatment at a makeshift clinic following reported air strikes by government forces in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus

A Syrian boy receives treatment at a makeshift clinic following reported air strikes by government forces in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus

The pro-opposition civil defence said on its twitter account that there were 21 raids alone on the other towns of Hamurya, Harasta and Saqba in the besieged Eastern Ghouta.

In the town of Saqba, just south of Douma, at least five people were killed when jets believed to be Russian struck a main market square in the town, two residents said.

Social media footage by the civil defence showed volunteers and civilians carrying wounded on stretchers after they were extracted from under the rubble of destroyed buildings in the once teeming areas.

'We are civilians. Why are they hitting us? Jets are above us. There are no terrorists,' said a screaming young man in footage shown on pro-opposition Orient TV.

The Syrian army said on Monday it had hit at the heart of insurgent positions in Jobar, Arbeen and Zamalka and areas in the Eastern Ghouta, knocking down missile launchers and killing scores of 'terrorists'.

The Syrian army has said it is fighting against foreign financed terrorists who fire mortars on government-held areas in the capital. They deny they target civilians.

The intensive raids followed an offensive begun by the Syrian army and its allies since late February to encircle the rebel-held Barza neighborhood of the capital and cut it off from nearby Qaboun.

Syrian children were covered in blood and dust following the reported air strikes by government forces in the rebel-held town of Douma

In the town of Saqba, just south of Douma, at least five people were killed when jets believed to be Russian struck a main market square in the town, two residents said. Pictured above, a bloodied Syrian man receives treatment at a makeshift clinic

The strikes in Douma were some of the heaviest bombing raids on the main rebel enclave near the capital in months, residents and activists said. Pictured above, a man assists an injured inside a field hospital after airstrikes

The army wants to destroy tunnels in Barza and Qaboun that it says rebels use to provide essential goods to Eastern Ghouta towns that have for years helped the area withstand the siege.

'Today the regime shelled and bombed ... they have not left a place they have not hit. They want to get the tunnels,' said Abu Omar, a commander from rebel group Failaq al Rahman.

Government troops, backed by Russian air power and Iranian-backed militias, have been snuffing out pockets of rebellion near the capital, forcing surrender on besieged rebels.

The densely populated rural area east of Damascus known as the Eastern Ghouta has been besieged since 2013.

Several hundred thousand people are believed to be trapped there with the authorities making it difficult for humanitarian aid to be delivered by United Nations organisations.

Residents believe the government aims to push them into an eventual surrender through siege and bombardment that forces them to reach local agreements that guarantee fighters safe passage to other rebel-held parts of the country.

The Syrian army said on Monday it had hit at the heart of insurgent positions in Jobar, Arbeen and Zamalka and areas in the Eastern Ghouta, knocking down missile launchers and killing scores of 'terrorists'. Pictured above, Syrian children wait to receive treatment at a makeshift clinic

The intensive raids followed an offensive begun by the Syrian army and its allies since late February to encircle the rebel-held Barza neighborhood of the capital and cut it off from nearby Qaboun. Pictured above, Syrian children receive treatment at a makeshift clinic following reported air strikes