Syria accuses Israel of striking military airfield

DAMASCUS, Syria: Syria accused Israel of striking a military airfield in the country’s northwest on Tuesday, after a security source told AFP the out-of-service military facility had been hit.

Israel has been carrying out incursions into Syrian territory since the December 2024 overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, including sending troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 1974.

It has also hit key military sites including several airfields, according to a Syria war monitor.

“Israeli occupation aircraft early this morning targeted the runway of the Abu Duhur military airport… with eight strikes,” Syrian state television quoted an unidentified military source as saying.

It added that “the attack resulted in material damage to the airport’s infrastructure, without causing casualties”.

Israeli officials have said they intend to keep forces in a “security zone” in southern Syria, where they seek a broader demilitarised zone.

‘Violations’

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also last month condemned “the continuation of Israeli military actions” and warned that “the unlawful occupation of our land beyond the 1974 line is a direct threat to the security of the region”.

He demanded an “immediate and unconditional withdrawal”.

But last week Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that his country planned to keep troops in Syria.

Israel captured most of the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

The incursions have been condemned by the United Nations chief as “violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Despite tensions between the neighbours, Israel and Syria’s new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks and have agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism.

Syria’s war shattered the country’s infrastructure and pushed millions of people to flee internally and abroad.