The runway of a military airport in northwestern Syria was targeted by unidentified fighter jets overnight Monday, with Damascus blaming Israel for the airstrike and the United States denouncing Israel for the attack.
“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, adding that “the attack resulted in material damage to the airport’s infrastructure, without causing casualties.”
There was no official comment from Israel on the reports, though a senior Israeli official told US media Tuesday that Israel notified the US before the strike, and shared “highly sensitive intelligence” related to the incident, without elaborating.
Syria’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that it “condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli airstrikes,” and “considers them an unjustified act of aggression.” The statement called on the United Nations Security Council to “take a firm position against Israel’s repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty.”
US envoy Tom Barrack then criticized what he called “the confirmed Israeli airstrikes” on the airbase, saying that they “constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”
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Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria and Iraq, said that the government of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa “has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel.”
US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks in a panel during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP/Riza Ozel)
The envoy added that the US believes “that restraint and engagement offer the more constructive course. We encourage all parties to prioritize logical discourse over further military incidents.”
The Al Jazeera news outlet reported that the strikes hit the runway of Abu Duhur Military Airport near Idlib — some 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the border with Turkey — and the Al Hadath site described them as “likely Israeli.”
Israel has been seeking to prevent Turkish entrenchment and influence in Syria, and in the past has carried out strikes purportedly to stop Turkey from assisting in building up the new Syrian government’s air force.
The base has been out of service as a dedicated military airfield since 2013 and has changed hands several times during Syria’s 14-year civil war between forces loyal to former president Bashar al-Assad and opposition factions.
أعمدة الدخان تتصاعد من مطار أبو الظهور العسكري بريف إدلب السورية جراء الغارات الإسرائيلية على مدرج المطار ومواقع أخرى داخله. https://t.co/3WAYPHdZFe pic.twitter.com/u2hX6m1kzX
— Ali A.bk (@ABKt198990) August 18, 2026
Since Assad was ousted in late 2024, the base has been used as a training center for Syria’s new army, according to a military source.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, the strikes came after “a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days as part of efforts to reactivate it.”
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.
Official says Israel shared intel with US ahead of strike
While Israel did not confirm or comment on the strikes, a senior Israeli official told Fox News Tuesday that Jerusalem notified Washington in advance, sharing “highly sensitive intelligence” related to the incident.
“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, adding that Syrian president 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.”
The official declined to provide Fox with additional details, “due to the highly classified nature of the intelligence.”
Senior Israeli official to Fox News when asked about the reported Israeli strikes in Syria overnight:
“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…
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) August 18, 2026
Kan news reported last week that Israeli security officials had detected signs that Syria was accelerating efforts to rebuild its air force, including the recruitment of new pilots, flight training and a first exercise involving fighter aircraft. Kan quoted an Israeli security source as saying Israel was closely monitoring the developments and had shared its concerns with the United States.
If confirmed to be an Israeli airstrike, it would mark the first such attack by the Israeli Air Force since March, when the IDF said it hit Syrian military camps in the country’s south in response to an alleged attack on Druze civilians in the Sweida area. Before that, in July 2025, the IDF bombed the Syrian general staff command building in Damascus, also in response to attacks on the Druze.
The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.
Israeli troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (9 miles) deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”
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