Israel confirms striking Syrian air base, citing alleged Turkish deployment plans

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed late Tuesday that Israel was behind overnight airstrikes on a Syrian military airport. According to the official statement, the action was taken in response to alleged plans by Turkey to deploy forces at the Abu al-Duhur airbase near Aleppo. Israel asserted that it had repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a security threat, claims which it says Damascus chose to ignore.

In response, the Turkish government dismissed the allegations as "frivolous," characterizing them as an attempt to legitimize unlawful strikes against Syrian sovereignty. An unnamed Turkish official, speaking to Axios, denied any Turkish presence at the base and accused Israel of "inventing pretexts to bomb neighboring countries and destabilize the region."

Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for Syria, criticized the strikes as an "unnecessary escalation" that does not serve regional stability. He stated that the United States is actively working to establish a deconfliction mechanism between Israel, Syria, and Turkey to prevent future miscommunications.

The airbase, located approximately 70 kilometers from the Turkish border, has been largely out of service since 2013. Syrian military sources and local residents reported that the strikes damaged the runway and storage facilities but resulted in no casualties. Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2024, Israel has continued military operations within Syria, citing ongoing security concerns.