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Abu al-Duhur hit
Israel struck Syria’s Abu al-Duhur air base in Idlib province early Tuesday, aiming to stop Turkish troops from deploying there, and Syrian state television said the attack damaged the runway but caused no casualties.
“Israel struck Syria's Abu Duhur air base after warning against a Turkish deployment there.”
U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack said Washington was “deeply concerned” that the “confirmed Israeli airstrikes” were “an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability,” and he added that Syria’s Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa had neither “adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces.”
Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani condemned what he called the “Israeli aggression,” saying the strikes were “an unjustified provocation, a violation of Syria’s sovereignty, and a direct threat to regional and global stability”.
The attack came as tensions between Israel and Turkey over Syria sharpened after insurgents entered Damascus in December 2024, and Israel had carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria after Assad’s fall while also taking control of a UN-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria that it still occupies.
Deconfliction push
In a phone interview with Reuters, Barrack said Turkey had not been warned about the Israeli strikes and therefore could have reasonably prepared its own response, adding that “Thankfully, calm heads were able to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.”
Barrack also said the incident “underscores the need for a deconfliction mechanism involving Israel, Syria and Türkiye,” and he described the priority as “to lower tensions and allow space for a more measured approach.”
Israel’s prime minister’s office said Syria had “almost violated” an agreed status quo by allowing Turkish soldiers to deploy at the air force base near Aleppo, and it said Israel would “welcome a return to the status quo.”
Reuters reported that Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya television, citing a military source, said Israel carried out eight airstrikes on the base’s runway and storage facilities, while a separate military source and a civilian living near the base said there were were no casualties.
Regional stakes
The strike intensified a dispute over Syria’s emerging military architecture, with SyriacPress saying the Abu al-Duhur base had not operated as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and had been used as a training center for Syria’s newly formed armed forces since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.
“Eight Israeli airstrikes struck the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northwestern Syria early Tuesday”
SyriacPress linked the timing to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan telling Al Jazeera in a 16 August interview that Ankara could consider building a new military base in Syria, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Erdoğan that Israel would not allow moves to strengthen Syria’s military capabilities in ways that could threaten Israel.
The Jerusalem Post also framed the broader regional environment as one where Iran’s posture could shift, quoting a senior Iranian official to Reuters saying Iran would be ready to conduct a “timely and precise” military attack to break a U.S. naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
Against that backdrop, Reuters said the United States was working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria after the strike, and it described the communications channel as intended to prevent misunderstandings or accidental confrontations between military or political actors.
