Israel Strikes Syrian Airbase to Block Turkish Deployment, Drawing Condemnation From Ankara

Israel confirmed responsibility for airstrikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northwestern Syria, saying it had warned repeatedly against the deployment of Turkish forces there. The Israeli financial daily Globes reported that the strikes alarmed American officials, who are concerned about a direct military confrontation opening between Israel and Turkey, and that Israel intended to signal that Turkey cannot position combat systems on Syrian territory and hold air superiority there.

France 24 reported eight strikes on the base's runway and storage facilities. Turkey rejected the Israeli account, denied that it posed a threat, condemned the strikes as a violation of international law and called for accountability. The United States special envoy for Syria and Iraq described the strikes as an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability, and said Turkey had not been warned in advance.

Damascus is meanwhile expanding its diplomatic relationships. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day visit, Dawn reported, the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly two decades, with political, economic and security cooperation on the agenda.

Two processes are running at once. Syria's new government is assembling relationships across the Gulf, Turkey and South Asia to fund reconstruction, and Israel is using force to set limits on which of those relationships can include a military presence. The disagreement between Israel and its principal ally, the United States, over where those limits sit is now public.