Israel warned Syrian government before attack on airbase, Katz says

Israel issued a warning to Damascus before the Israel Defense Forces carried out an attack on an airbase near Aleppo in northwestern Syria this week, Defense Minister Israel Katz disclosed on Saturday.

“After several discussions that the prime minister and I held with the IDF and the various security agencies, it was agreed that, before authorization was granted, a direct warning would be conveyed to the Syrian regime at the highest levels in an attempt to prevent the move—and that is indeed what was done,” the minister said in a Hebrew language statement.

“At the same time, the intelligence was passed on to the relevant authorities in the United States,” he shared.

Katz added that the Israeli military “several times” recommended to attack the Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in Idlib in the wake of “clear intelligence” pointing to Ankara’s intent to carry out activities that would threaten Israel’s national security.

Since the warning went unheeded, he and PM Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the strike, which was “successfully conducted” overnight Monday (Aug. 10-11).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and was forced to back down,” Katz went on to say.

He pledged to act against any threat as the central lesson of the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The attack in southern Syria earlier in the day is a part of this policy as well, Katz noted, referring to the elimination of a terrorist who posed an immediate threat to Israeli troops deployed in the area, according to the IDF.

In addition, the defense minister condemned those in Israel’s opposition, including “parts of the media,” who attempted to frame the strikes on the airbase as “political spin.”

He also criticized U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Presidential Envoy for Iraq and Syria Tom Barrack over recent remarks “riddled with inaccuracies and positions that contradict those of U.S. President Trump himself regarding the status of the Golan Heights.”

On Friday night, Barrack told independent reporter Mario Nawfal that Israel occupies the Golan Heights “against the U.N. resolutions, against all of the international order, which has said the Golan [belongs to] Syria.”

During President Donald Trump’s first term, he signed a proclamation on March 25, 2019, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

In Barrack’s interview, he said that Washington examined Israel’s intelligence and rejected the conclusion that Turkey was moving military assets to the airbase in Idlib.

Israel’s relationship with Turkey has taken a nosedive in recent years following anti-Israel rhetoric and threats from Erdoğan and officials in his government.