Israel carried out multiple airstrikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northwest Syria on August 18, damaging runways and storage facilities, according to multiple sources [1, 2, 3]. At least eight bombs were dropped during the strike [2, 3]. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had warned Syria not to allow a Turkish military presence at the airbase before the attack. “Our message was very clear. Don’t. I guess they didn’t quite understand the message,” Netanyahu said [2].
Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani denied any plans to establish a Turkish military base at Abu al-Duhur, describing the facility as largely empty and undergoing rehabilitation for Syrian Air Force use. He said, “There was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site” [1]. Syrian officials acknowledged Turkish military officers had visited the base only for training and cooperation purposes prior to the Israeli strike [1, 2, 3].
Türkiye’s National Defense Ministry confirmed that no Turkish military delegation was present at the airbase before or during Israel’s air raids, stating, “No Turkish military delegation was present at Syria’s Abu al-Duhur Airbase before or during the Israeli attack” [4]. The defense ministry condemned the strikes as violations of Syrian sovereignty.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of involving Türkiye in “dangerous adventures” in Syria. Katz warned, “Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security. It is preferable for Erdogan to continue delivering empty, delusional speeches against Israel in the Turkish parliament rather than testing Israel’s resolve to defend itself” [2].
The Israeli strikes drew international condemnation. Syrian and Turkish officials described them as violations of Syria’s sovereignty that risk regional destabilization [1, 2, 4, 3]. Abu al-Duhur airbase is located about 72 kilometers from the Turkish border [3].
The strike and the conflicting claims highlight tensions over military presence in northern Syria. Syria and Türkiye both deny any Turkish military buildup at Abu al-Duhur, while Israel stated the attack was meant to prevent such a buildup [1, 5, 2, 3]. Türkiye’s defense ministry reaffirmed no Turkish troops were at the site during the strike on August 20 [4].
