Israel Confirms Striking Syrian Air Base Citing Turkish Force Deployment Plans

Israeli aircraft struck the Abu al-Duhur air base in Syria's Idlib province early Tuesday, with Arab media reporting eight strikes on the runway and Syrian sources reporting damage to infrastructure but no casualties 1. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office confirmed responsibility late Tuesday, stating Syria was "on the verge" of breaching a bilateral security status quo by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at the base near Aleppo, and that Israel had repeatedly warned Damascus of the security threat this would pose 234. A Turkish source told Axios the country had no military presence at the base, and Turkey's government called the Israeli allegations a pretext to legitimize unlawful strikes on Syrian territory 13. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes as an act of aggression and urged UN Security Council action, while US envoy Tom Barrack called the attack an "unnecessary escalation" and said Washington is working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Syria, and Turkey 123. Barrack said Turkey received no advance warning of the strikes and observed the Israeli aircraft heading toward its territory, meaning Ankara could reasonably have prepared its own military response; this is the miscalculation risk driving the US push for a deconfliction channel 2.