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U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack condemned new Israeli airstrikes against a major Syrian Air Force air base on Tuesday as an unnecessary escalation. The Syrian government maintained no proxy forces or predatory attitudes, so Israel’s strikes do nothing to advance regional stability, he wrote on Tuesday. Syria even indicated its desire several times to de-escalate tensions with Israel, Barrack added.
Syria’s state-run news outlet, Al Ekhbariya, reported that Abu al-Duhur Air Base in northwestern Syria suffered eight strikes across the base’s runway and storage facilities, with no casualties. Syria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry characterized the airstrikes as unjustified aggression in a Tuesday condemnation. Israel violated Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while threatening regional stability, the statement continued. Syrian officials called on the United Nations’ Security Council to condemn Israel’s actions and take a firm stance against Israel’s repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty, the statement added.
Why did Israel launch the strike? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a Tuesday afternoon statement justifying the strike, accusing Syria of violating an active security agreement. Israeli strikes stopped Syria from breaking its status quo agreement with Israel and allowing Turkish troops to deploy from the air base, according to the statement. Syrian officials ignored Israel’s repeated warnings that allowing such a deployment would threaten Israeli national security, the prime minister’s office continued. Israel will not abide national security threats and welcomed a return to the status quo agreement, according to the statement.
Ambassador Barrack encouraged both sides to take the diplomatic route, describing continued discussions and shared concern as the foundation for any sustainable de-escalation agreement. The most constructive results come from restraint and logical discourse, not continued military actions, Barrack said.