Report: Israeli Airstrikes Hit Syrian Airbase as Turkey Expands Regional Military Footprint

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Israeli fighter jets allegedly struck an airbase in northern Syria early Tuesday, Arab media reports claim. Eight airstrikes were reported at Syria’s Abu Duhur air base near the Turkish border. No casualties were reported from the strike.

The strike occurred shortly after a group of Turkish military officials inspected the site. “Israel carried out an unusual strike deep inside Syria overnight, targeting the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in the eastern Idlib countryside after a reported visit by a Turkish military delegation to the site,” Israel’s Ynetnews reported, citing Arab and Syrian media.

Update: Israel and Syria reached an agreement to prevent a Turkish military takeover of Syrian bases, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday night.

The Israeli government and military have not commented on the incident.

Turkey wants to restore the Syrian base for the forward-deployment of its air force, reports suggest. Citing the UK-based organization, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Associated Press reported Tuesday that “Turkey, which is a main backer of Syria’s government, has been rehabilitating the air base that had been out of service for years during Syria’s conflict.”

Since former Al Qaeda operative Ahmed al-Sharaa took power in December 2024, Turkey has been eyeing military and air force bases across the war-torn Syria. Al-Sharaa and his jihadist fighters owe their success in the Syrian civil war to Erdogan’s regime’s military and material support.

Reuters report:

Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya, citing a military source, said Israel carried out eight airstrikes targeting the runway and storage facilities at the Abu al-Duhur base, while a separate military source and a civilian who lives near the base said there were no casualties. The Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes while the Syrian defence ministry did ​not respond. (…)

The base, about 70 km (43.5 miles) from the Turkish ​border, has been out of service as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and changed hands several times during Syria’s 14-year civil war between forces loyal to former President ​Bashar al-Assad and opposition factions.

Israel has repeatedly struck Syrian forces since Assad was ousted in 2024, viewing the country’s new rulers with deep suspicion due to their Islamist militant roots despite President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s warm ties with the West. (…)

The strikes follow a heightening of security tensions between Israel and Turkey and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two countries over Syria. (…)

Syria conducted air exercises in the north of the country in early August using Russian-made MiG-21 fighter jets, the first such exercises since Assad’s ⁠ouster.

Israel’s Kan ​public broadcaster reported on August 11 that security officials had detected signs of Syria accelerating efforts to ​rebuild its air force, including the recruitment of new pilots, flight training and a first exercise involving fighter aircraft. Kan quoted a security source as saying Israel had shared its concerns with the United States.

Ahead of the strikes, Israel reportedly shared ‘highly sensitive’ intelligence related to the base with the U.S. before striking, Fox News claimed:

“Highly sensitive intelligence was shared with the United States in advance, at the most senior levels of the various agencies and bodies,” the official said. “Al-Sharaa understands that he cannot operate like the previous Syrian regime, which maintained proxy forces. It’s possible that he didn’t understand what was going on, or didn’t know.”

Erdogan’s Turkey sees itself as the natural heir to the Ottoman Empire, striving to restore its dominance throughout the Muslim and the Arab world. Earlier this month, Turkey signed a joint military pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The Mecca Pact, also dubbed the “Muslim NATO,” combines Turkey’s NATO-supplied military prowess with Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth.

Following Iran’s blueprint, Ankara is also rearing its own set of venomous Islamic terror groups.

With a compliant regime in Damascus, Turkey wants to use its neighbor as a staging ground for future military adventures. In recent months, the Erdogan regime has repeatedly threatened to invade Israel and annex Jerusalem.

Israel is aware of the growing Turkish military threat. Quoting Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s remarks, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday that “Turkey occupies 5% of Syria and intends to use the space to undermine Israeli security, while Israel only holds “one-tenth of one percent of Syrian territory” in the form of a buffer zone to protect itself from terror attacks.”

Syria vows to hold nuclear material from former regime’s weapons program

The strikes come as the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, located nuclear material left over from the former Assad regime’s weapons program. The new regime vowed to pursue its own nuclear program using the newly discovered material.

The Times of Israel reported:

Nuclear material found at an undisclosed site in Syria is not dangerous and will remain in Syrian custody, subject to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s guarantees, Syria’s foreign minister says.

Asaad al-Shibani adds in a joint press conference with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in Damascus that Syria has the right to use the material for civil and peaceful purposes.

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