Eight Israeli airstrikes struck the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in Idlib province, in northwestern Syria, early on Tuesday, damaging its runway and storage facilities but causing no casualties, according to Syrian state media and a civilian living near the base. The Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes, though a senior Israeli official confirmed that Washington had been notified in advance and provided with what was described as highly sensitive intelligence.
The strikes drew swift condemnation from multiple parties. Syria's Foreign Ministry described the attack as an unjustified act of aggression and a violation of national sovereignty, calling on the UN Security Council to take a firm stance against repeated Israeli violations of Syrian territory. Turkey condemned the operation as a violation of international law, while Jordan similarly called it an unjustified act of aggression. The United Nations also criticised the strikes, with the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General calling them "a troubling violation" of Syrian territorial integrity and airspace, and urging that they stop immediately.
Israel's stated justification centred on security concerns about the base's reconstruction and growing military ties between Syria and Turkey. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Syria had been on the verge of breaching an existing security arrangement by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo. Both Damascus and Ankara rejected this framing: a Syrian Foreign Ministry diplomatic source told Al Jazeera that Israel had been informed there were no foreign forces at Abu al-Duhur, and that Syria could not enter into any agreement that limited its ability to build its civil and military institutions. Turkey's presidential office dismissed Netanyahu's statements as "false claims aimed at justifying illegal airstrikes."
US Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack, who also serves as Ambassador to Turkey, described the confirmed strikes as an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability." He revealed that Turkey had not been notified of the strike in advance, meaning Turkish forces had tracked Israeli aircraft heading northward toward Turkish airspace — a situation that, he said, could have prompted a military response. "Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed," Barrack told Reuters. He added that Washington is working to establish a deconfliction mechanism between Israel, Turkey, and Syria. Some senior US officials, according to the Axios news site, believe the strike was partly motivated by Israeli elections scheduled for October.
The Abu al-Duhur base, located roughly 70 kilometres from the Turkish border, has been out of service as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and changed hands repeatedly during Syria's 14-year civil war. Since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government in December 2024, it has been used as a training centre for Syria's reconstituted army. The strikes are the first reported Israeli attack on the base since Assad's ouster, and come amid broader Israeli concerns about Syria's efforts to rebuild its air force — including the recruitment of new pilots and flight exercises involving MiG-21 jets. Syria has sought in recent months to conclude a security agreement with the US and Israel, including a proposed joint coordination centre in Jordan to manage such incidents, but Israel has so far declined to activate it.