Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad have used chemical weapons "on a small scale" against the opposition rebels, the White House has said.
A senior aide to President Barack Obama said the US estimated 100-150 people had died in "multiple" attacks.
Ben Rhodes said the US president had decided to provide unspecified "military support" to the opposition.
The White House had previously warned that the US considers the use of such weapons crossing a "red line".
Mr Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr Obama, said the US had no "reliable" evidence the opposition had used chemical weapons.
Earlier, the United Nations said the number of those killed in the Syrian conflict had risen to more than 93,000 people.
"The president has been clear that the use of chemical weapons - or the transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups - is a red line for the US," Mr Rhodes said.
"Our intelligence community now has a high confidence assessment that chemical weapons have been used on a small scale by the Assad regime in Syria. The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has."
Iran and Hezbollah
Mr Rhodes said the president had made the decision to increase assistance, including "military support", to the rebels.
But he declined to detail what would be provided, other than to say it would be "different in scope and scale to what we have provided before".
The White House hopes the increased support will bolster the effectiveness and legitimacy of the both the political and military arms of Syria's rebels, he said.
He said the aid would benefit the Supreme Military Council (SMC) and Syrian Opposition Council, and said the US was comfortable working with SMC chief Gen Salim Idris.
"It's been important to work through them while aiming to isolate some of the more extremist elements of the opposition, such as al-Nusra," he said.
He said the sense of urgency in Washington had been growing Hezbollah and Iran have increased their own involvement in the conflict, Mr Rhodes said.
BBC
Mr Rhodes said the president had made the decision to increase assistance, including "military support", to the rebels.
But he declined to detail what would be provided, other than to say it would be "different in scope and scale to what we have provided before".
The White House hopes the increased support will bolster the effectiveness and legitimacy of the both the political and military arms of Syria's rebels, he said.
He said the aid would benefit the Supreme Military Council (SMC) and Syrian Opposition Council, and said the US was comfortable working with SMC chief Gen Salim Idris.
"It's been important to work through them while aiming to isolate some of the more extremist elements of the opposition, such as al-Nusra," he said.
He said the sense of urgency in Washington had been growing Hezbollah and Iran have increased their own involvement in the conflict, Mr Rhodes said.
BBC
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