SAEDNEWS: Netanyahu’s office said Israel attacked Syria’s Abu al-Duhur air base to prevent Turkey from establishing a military presence there. Israeli and US officials linked the strike to concerns over a possible expansion of Turkish forces in Syria.
According to SaedNews: Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli airstrike carried out the previous morning targeted a Syrian military base to prevent the Turkish army from deploying at Abu al-Duhur.
The statement claimed Syria had been on the verge of violating the existing security arrangements with Israel by planning to allow Turkish forces to establish a presence at an air base. It added that Damascus had ignored Israeli warnings over the proposed deployment.
The strike hit runways and facilities used to maintain aircraft at Abu al-Duhur, located about 70 kilometers from the Turkish border. A Turkish military delegation had visited the site the previous week as part of Ankara’s efforts to participate in rebuilding and restoring the base.
Hebrew-language i24NEWS reported that, according to Israeli assessments, the attack was also a direct message to Turkey that Israel would not accept the deployment of Turkish military equipment and combat systems in Syria, including drones and air-defense systems.
Meanwhile, US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said the Israeli strikes reflected assessments that Turkey could expand its military presence in Syria in the coming period.
Barrack said Turkey had received no warning before the strikes, arguing that this highlighted the need for a mechanism to prevent tensions and conflict between Israel, Syria and Turkey. He added that Washington was actively working to establish such a mechanism.
i24NEWS described the situation as a sensitive equation for Israel: preventing an expansion of Turkey’s military presence in Syria while avoiding a direct confrontation with Ankara and maintaining negotiations with Damascus.
The Hebrew-language Kan channel, citing an Israeli security source, reported that Israel had recently sought an understanding with Mohammed al-Julani, the leader of the rebels based in Syria, through indirect negotiations. According to the source, those back-channel contacts failed to produce an agreement.
The source said that after the talks collapsed, Israel provided the United States with classified intelligence indicating that Turkey was seeking to establish itself at a Syrian military base about 70 kilometers from its border and create military infrastructure there.
Israel regarded the move as a violation of existing understandings and arrangements, the source said. After the alleged violation and before Turkish forces reached the site, the Israeli military struck the base, where reconstruction and preparation work had only recently begun.
