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Israel has bombed the Damascus and Aleppo Airports in Syria just before Iran’s foreign minister was due to arrive in the country.
Iranian state sources say foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s plane has landed in Baghdad. It’s unclear whether he will continue on his trip to visit Syria, which some reports say is scheduled for tomorrow.
State media said his trip is “in light of the current Palestinian events, the crimes committed against Gaza and their dangerous ramifications.”
Two days ago rockets were fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which regional media sources said was in “solidarity” with the Palestinian cause as war rages in Gaza. Likely it was a Syrian Army strike, but there remains the possibility of associated militias having conducted it, such as ‘Iran-linked’ groups.
IDF Spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said at the time, “Attacks, rockets were fired from Syria into Israel. We do not yet know if these rockets were fired by the Syrian National Army (SNA), by any of the many Iranian militias that exist and are welcomed by the Syrian regime or Hezbollah or any other faction. What we do know is that we retaliated towards the sources of fire and currently the situation there is quiet and let’s hope that it remains that way.”
But it seems Israel is indeed holding the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad responsible, as on Thursday the IDF has struck back against Syrian targets.
Syrian state television is now confirming that Israel has launched attacks on the country’s two main international airports, in the capital of Damascus and Aleppo in the north. It happened while an Iranian plane was inbound.
According to Reuters, “Local media channel Sham FM said Syrian air defenses were launched in response to both attacks. It said here had been damage but no casualties at the Aleppo airport, but did not give any information on the impact of the strike on Damascus Airport.”
State media has confirmed that the Israeli strikes hit runways and have left both airports out of commission.
It’s not the first time Israel has attacked these airports, but them being both hit in a simultaneous operation appears a first. The Israeli army spokesman has also announced, “We bombed Damascus and Aleppo airports in response to the firing of mortar shells from Syria.”