Former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi said this week that had never heard of an Israeli strike on a Syrian nuclear reactor.

Mr Ashkenazi, who spoke in reaction to a report in the New Yorker claiming that Israel was behind the attack on September 5, 2007, was the head of the IDF at the time.

On that day, at around 12.30 in the morning, Israeli jets dropped 17 tons of explosives on the North Korean-built reactor.

Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Mr Ashkenazi said: “This morning, I heard on the news that the IDF attacked a Syrian reactor. On my life, I haven’t heard a single thing about it, and I don’t think it should be discussed.”