A young Syrian girl screams out after learning that her parents and family are dead, while she survived a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus that killed 1,300 people but left no wounds. Photo: Screenshot / Israel's Channel 2.

The Wakid family of the largely Arab city of Nazareth, in Northern Israel, lost 18 relatives in the suspected chemical bombing massacre, outside of Damascus, on Wednesday, Israel’s Channel 2 reported, citing  family member Ahmed Wakid, 55.

“It’s terrible that they were killed with chemical gas,” Ahmed said. “We do not know who to contact and what to do, this is just terrible – that such a large number of people were killed in one family,” he said, adding that the family will erect a mourning tent that will be open for three days, and that a sign with the names of those killed has been hung outside their home.

Yesterday, Israeli officials corroborated the Syrian opposition’s claim that President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on civilians in a Wednesday attack in eastern neighborhoods of Damascus that is reported to have killed more than 1,300 people. The victims were reported not to have any physical wounds, a tell tale sign that they died through inhalation.

The Assad regime “has already used chemical weapons several times” during the Syrian civil war, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said, according to Israeli daily Israel Hayom. “The death toll in Syria has now crossed the 100,000 mark. This is a struggle for life and death and there is no end in sight,” Ya’alon said.