The threat of US military action against Syria remains “real,” Washington’s top diplomat said on Sunday a day after striking a deal with Russia to destroy Damascus’ chemical weapons stockpile.

“The threat of force remains, the threat is real,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said at a news conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs.

“Make no mistake, we have taken no options off the table,” Kerry warned after news of the deal appeared to stave off the threat of a US-led military strike on the Syrian regime.

“The fact of weapons of mass destruction having being used against the people of their own state — these are crimes against humanity and they cannot be tolerated,” he said.

Leading US Republican lawmakers voiced skepticism on Sunday about whether the Syria deal could work without a credible threat of force pressuring the Syrian government to comply.

“If the president believes, like I do, that a credible military force helps you get a diplomatic solution, they gave that away in this deal. I’m really concerned about that,” Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN.

“Not one ounce of chemical weapons came off the battlefield but we’ve given up every ounce of our leverage when it comes to trying to solve the broader Syrian problem because we’ve taken away a credible military threat,” said Rogers, a Michigan lawmaker.