US Blames Israel for Air Strikes on Syrian Airbase in Idlib

IDLIB, Syria —

Syrian state media said eight air strikes hit the runway of the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in the country's northwestern Idlib province early Tuesday, and both Syria and the United States blamed Israel for the attack. Israel had not commented on the accusation, according to Al Jazeera.

Syrian state television, quoted by France 24, reported that the strikes damaged the runway but gave no further details. Al Jazeera reported the attack caused damage but no casualties, and said it was the first strike on the base since the government of Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024.

Tom Barrack, the United States special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, wrote on X that the United States was "deeply concerned" by the strikes, calling them an "unnecessary escalation" that "does not advance regional stability." He said Washington was urging "all parties to prioritize logical discourse over further military incidents," according to France 24 and Al Jazeera.

Condemnation From Syria, Jordan and Turkey

Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said it "condemns in the strongest terms" the strikes on the airbase and said the country would keep defending its rights and interests "by legitimate means guaranteed by international laws and norms," Al Jazeera reported.

Jordan's foreign ministry also blamed Israel, calling the strikes "an unjustified act of aggression" and "a flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to Al Jazeera. The ministry urged the international community to "compel Israel to halt its provocative, unlawful attacks on Syria."

Turkey's foreign ministry issued a similar condemnation, calling on the international community to take "a more decisive stance to end Israel's escalating aggression against Syria," France 24 reported.

Abu al-Duhur airbase saw heavy damage during Syria's 14-year civil war. Opposition fighters seized it in 2015 before forces loyal to Assad recaptured it in 2019, though the site remained out of use because of the destruction it had suffered, according to Al Jazeera.

Part of a Wider Pattern, Al Jazeera's Correspondents Say

Al Jazeera correspondent Sohaib al-Khalaf, reporting from Damascus, said the strike matched a pattern of past Israeli attacks aimed at weakening Syria's military capacity. Al Jazeera's Heidi Pett, reporting from Saraqeb near the airbase, said Israel had ramped up strikes on Syrian military sites since Assad's fall, adding that Israel had "systematically bombed the Syrian air force basically out of existence" and that Syria had, in the past year and a half, tried to rebuild some of that capacity.

The strikes came the same day President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that there were no talks scheduled with Iran and that the Strait of Hormuz remained open, according to France 24. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, said the strait would stay closed until the United States lifted a naval blockade, eased sanctions and freed Iranian assets, France 24 reported.