By Feras Dalatey
DAMASCUS, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Eight Israeli airstrikes hit an airbase in northwestern Syria early on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, in what the U.S. envoy for the region called an “unnecessary escalation”.
Syria state-run Ekhbariya, citing a military source, said the attack struck the runway and storage facilities at the Abu al-Duhur base, while a separate military source and a civilian who lives near the base said there were no casualties. The Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes while the Syrian defence ministry did not respond.
“We are deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability,” Ambassador Tom Barrack, the U.S. special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, said on X.
“The United States continues to believe that restraint and engagement offer the more constructive course. We encourage all parties to prioritize logical discourse over further military incidents,” he added.
The base, about 70 km (43.5 miles) from the Turkish border, has been out of service as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and changed hands several times during Syria’s 14-year civil war between forces loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad and opposition factions.
Since Assad was ousted in late 2024, the base has been used as a training centre for Syria’s new army, according to the military source.
In the months after Assad was toppled, Israel seized ground in southwest Syria and struck much of the Syrian military’s heavy weapons and equipment, as Israeli officials expressed alarm about the militant Islamist background of Syria’s new rulers.
Israel also regularly bombed Syria when Assad was in power, aiming to roll back Iranian influence in the country.
SECURITY TENSIONS HEIGHTENED
The strikes follow a heightening of security tensions between Israel and Turkey and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two countries over Syria.
Ankara has accused Israel of trying to destabilise Syria and undermine its new administration. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on August 6 that Israel continued to threaten Syria’s security through its repeated attacks, calling for international pressure on Israel to respect Syria’s territorial integrity.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and recently signed a defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia similar to NATO, has become one of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s main allies. It has been training Syria’s army, helping it rebuild its state institutions and infrastructure, and providing it military and diplomatic support.
It was not immediately clear whether Turkey was involved in renovating the base, but Ankara has said it was helping Damascus across the country.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, for his part, has issued direct warnings to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, saying Israel would not allow steps that strengthened Syria’s military capabilities in ways that could pose a threat to Israel.
Syria conducted air exercises in the north of the country in early August using Russian-made MiG-21 fighter jets, the first such exercises since Assad’s ouster.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported on August 11 that Israeli security officials had detected signs that Syria was accelerating efforts to rebuild its air force, including the recruitment of new pilots, flight training and a first exercise involving fighter aircraft.
Kan quoted an Israeli security source as saying Israel was closely monitoring the developments and had shared its concerns with the United States.
(Reporting by Feras Dalatey and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Michael Georgy, Saad Sayeed, Daren Butler, William Maclean)
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