{"id":589345,"date":"2026-08-19T09:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/589345\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T09:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:42:10","slug":"barrack-israels-syria-strike-risked-military-confrontation-with-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/589345\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrack: Israel’s Syria strike risked military confrontation with Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister’s Office took credit for a strike on Abu al-Duhur airbase<\/a> in Idlib, Syria. US Ambassador to Turkey and the Trump administration’s special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack<\/a>, said that the strike \u201ccarried a real risk of rapid escalation into a direct military confrontation between Israel and Turkey as well as Syria<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTurkish forces were not aware that the Israeli aircraft were en route to that specific Syrian base, nor of their intended purpose, and therefore could potentially have been inclined to scramble their own jets in the belief that they themselves were under attack,\u201d Barrack said in a Wednesday interview with The Jerusalem Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe events of yesterday were serious and worrisome. However, we are relieved that no human life was harmed and that the situation did not escalate,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Syria said on Tuesday that Israel had carried out eight airstrikes on the runway and storage facilities at Abu al-Duhur, about 70 kilometers east of the Turkish border.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister’s Office said late Tuesday that Syria was on the \u201cverge\u201d of violating a \u201cstatus quo agreed with Israel on security matters\u201d by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase.<\/p>\n

\"AbuAbu al-Duhur base following strikes, Syria, August 18, 2026. (credit: REUTERS\/STRINGER)<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel\u2019s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings,\u201d the PMO said.<\/p>\n

Barrack told the Post that the lack of clear communication channels could have made the situation \u201cmuch worse,\u201d and that this needs to change.<\/p>\n

Barrack: Discussions ongoing about relaunching Israel-Syria deconfliction cell<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are currently engaged in quiet discussions with all the relevant parties about relaunching a deconfliction cell between Israel and Syria. Turkey can be invited to be a direct or indirect participant,\u201d Barrack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would be clear value in placing such an arrangement on a standing, full-time basis, with a fusion cell staffed around the clock by personnel fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Turkish, whether through a formal structure or a more flexible, informal channel. Reliable communication remains essential,” he added.<\/p>\n

The Trump envoy said that the absence of dependable communication channels itself creates unnecessary risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no inherent obstacle preventing these parties from maintaining open lines of communication. Diplomatic discourse is the best prevention to kinetic interactions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Barrack has hosted several rounds of discussions between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government and senior Israeli officials in an attempt to reach a border agreement between the countries, advance normalization and de-escalate tensions. During the most recent round of talks, the sides even agreed to advance joint economic projects and establish a deconfliction mechanism between the countries, based in Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeaningful progress was achieved in clarifying the concerns of both parties, and in light of recent developments, there is clear value in revisiting these talks at the earliest opportunity,\u201d Barrack told the Post, adding that the Sharaa government has made clear that it harbors no predatory intentions toward Israel and seeks only to protect its own sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria has demonstrated itself to be a responsible and stable sovereign neighbor, and a carefully structured de-escalation arrangement would contribute significantly to greater calm and predictability across the region,\u201d Barrack said.<\/p>\n

Israeli concerns over Turkish military equipment close to Syria-Israeli border remains sticking point<\/p>\n

One of the sticking points during the talks was Israel\u2019s concern that Turkish military personnel or equipment could be deployed at Syrian bases, some of them close to the Israeli border.<\/p>\n

In January, the Post reported that the deployment of an advanced Turkish HTRS-100 radar system<\/a> at Damascus International Airport was viewed in Israel as \u201cextremely troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli officials feared that a Turkish military installation capable of tracking aerial targets within a 150\u2013200-kilometer range could significantly restrict the Israel Air Force\u2019s freedom of movement in Syrian airspace.<\/p>\n

Barrack said that, in the US view, the civilian infrastructure does not pose a security threat to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria\u2019s ability to maintain safe and reliable domestic aviation depends on functioning civilian radar coverage. We remain convinced that this technical requirement need not pose a security concern, and that further conversations can help clarify the matter to everyone\u2019s satisfaction,\u201d he told the Post.<\/p>\n

Barrack added that the US\u2019s immediate priority must be to help lower tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem and prevent any unintended escalation that could prove difficult to reverse.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll parties should work patiently toward a durable resolution of this highly complex situation. T\u00fcrkiye and Israel have, at various points over the past three decades, enjoyed periods of constructive and productive relations. President Trump\u2019s plan offers a viable path that can succeed if given the necessary space and support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister’s Office took credit for a strike on Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4717,23744,1031,85,46,4716,43,4713,39366,1582],"class_list":["post-589345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-airstrike","tag-damascus","tag-idf","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israeli-air-force","tag-news","tag-syria","tag-tom-barrack","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}