ISIS terrorist in Syria (file)
ISIS terrorist in Syria (file)Reuters

Israeli intelligence officials are concerned that an ISIS terrorist cell operating in the southern Golan Heights - along the border with Israel - has obtained chemical weapons.

According to a Channel 10 report, Israel is hunting the cell, located on the Syrian side of the border, amid fears the jihadists have imminent plans to use the chemical weapons in their possession.

The report added that the jihadists are not believed to be planning on using the chemical agents against Israel, but against their enemies inside Syria, of which there are no shortages. ISIS in Syria is currently fighting a multi-pronged war against the Assad regime, rival jihadists from Al Qaeda, other Syrian rebels, and, in northern Syria, against Kurdish forces.

Nevertheless, the prospect of an apocalyptic Islamist terrorist group possessing chemical weapons along Israel's borders has naturally raised serious concerns in Jerusalem.

The Assad regime was supposed to destroy its massive chemical weapons arsenal under a Russian-brokered deal, but UN inspectors believe Damascus maintained reserves of nerve agents and other deadly chemical weapons. Fears have also been repeatedly raised of jihadists seizing chemical and even biological weapons depots from former regime positions.