United States Envoy Calls Israeli Strikes on a Syrian Airbase an Unnecessary Escalation

Tom Barrack, the United States ambassador to Turkey and Washington's envoy to Syria, said the United States is deeply concerned about Israeli strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in Idlib province, calling them an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability," The Hill reported. Barrack said the government of Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria's president, has not taken an aggressive posture, has not deployed proxy forces, and has stated a wish to reduce tensions with Israel.

RT carried the same condemnation and presented it as evidence of tension between Washington and its closest regional partner.

Israel's account is different. The prime minister's office said Israel and Syria had agreed on a security status quo that Damascus was about to breach by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo, and NPR reported that blocking that deployment was the purpose of the strike. Syria's government blamed Israel for the overnight attack.

The dispute is about which outside power secures Syrian airspace and territory as the country rebuilds, and the three governments involved give three different accounts of what the existing understanding permits.