The Syrian authorities assured this Thursday that Israel has bombed the country’s two main airports, Damascus and Aleppo, leaving both facilities out of service. This is the first attack against Syria since the Hamas offensive broke out and one of the largest bombings against facilities in the Arab country in recent years. “They damaged the landing strips of the two airports, which were put out of service,” said the official Syrian agency Sana, citing military sources.
Israeli authorities have not commented on the airstrike. However, the media speculate that it could be a warning to Iran, because the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, was scheduled to visit Damascus tomorrow. Initially, Iranian media indicated that Amir-Abdollahian’s plane was on its way to the Syrian capital when the attack occurred and changed direction. However, the NourNews newspaper issued a statement denying the news. He pointed out that the head of Iranian diplomacy was indeed on his private plane but was heading to Baghdad, where he had an official visit scheduled today.
Iran has ties to the Islamist group Hamas, which carried out the surprise offensive against Israel last Saturday. After the attack, Israel declared war on the Palestinian group and began bombing the Gaza Strip, under the control of Hamas but where more than two million Palestinian civilians reside. These clashes, which are now in their sixth day, have caused more than 1,200 deaths in Israel and nearly a thousand in Gaza. Iran, for its part, has expressed its support for the Hamas attack but assured that it did not participate in the attack. While the United States continues to investigate Tehran’s possible involvement, Israel threatened its enemy country with an attack if it is proven that it was ultimately involved. The intelligence services of these countries are also investigating the involvement of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which also has links to Hamas.
In recent days, alleged Hezbollah militants launched missiles at the Israeli side, in skirmishes that are increasing and that worry the intentional community, due to the possible opening of a new war front. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallante on Sunday ordered preparations for a possible evacuation of settlements near the border with Lebanon. In a public address last night, he did not rule out retaliating against Lebanon if Hezbollah attacks his country. Gallante threatened to send the neighboring country “to the Stone Age” if the militant group attacks Israeli soil. The United States, in turn, has warned Iran and Hezbollah that it will defend its ally if a major attack occurs.
Israel’s Defense Minister on Sunday ordered the Israeli army’s Home Front Command to prepare plans for the possible evacuation of settlements near Lebanon amid developments in fighting with the Palestinian group Hamas.
The bombing in Damascus and Aleppo coincides with the visit to Israel of the American Foreign Minister, Antony Blinken, who assured the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington “will always be at its side.” During the diplomatic meeting, the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, called his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, whom he supports in the war that the country has suffered since 2011. During the conversation Raisi asked Islamic countries to cooperate “to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation,” said the official Syrian agency.
During the course of the war in Syria, Israeli aircraft have regularly bombed facilities and groups supported by Iran, as well as Syrian army positions. The airports attacked this Thursday have been the target of attacks on previous occasions, leaving them out of service for several days. The last attack occurred on August 28 and the previous one on January 2