DAMASCUS, August 19. /Dunyo IA/. The United States has issued rare criticism of Israel following strikes on the Syrian Abu Duhur airbase, calling them an “unnecessary escalation” that does not contribute to regional stability, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing Reuters.

The Israeli strikes on August 18 hit the airbase’s runway and storage facilities, located about 70 km from the Turkish border. There were no reports of casualties.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkiye and Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack said Washington was “deeply concerned” about the strikes. He said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had not established proxy forces and had repeatedly expressed a preference for de-escalation with Israel. The U.S. is ready to support diplomatic talks between the sides.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Syria had been close to violating security arrangements with Israel by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase. Israel warned that such a deployment would pose a threat to its security.

Turkiye rejected the accusations, calling them an attempt to justify Israeli strikes against Syria’s sovereignty. Ankara also said it would continue cooperating with the Syrian government and would not allow the country to be destabilized. Turkiye did not confirm whether its troops had been deployed at Abu Duhur.

The airbase has not operated as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and was seized by rebel forces in December 2024 during the offensive that led to the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad. Syria subsequently began rebuilding military infrastructure damaged during the fighting.

The latest strikes were among Israel’s most significant attacks on Syria in recent months and came amid rising regional tensions.

Photo credit: Reuters