Today, Israeli missiles hit the Syrian airfields of Damascus and Aleppo, “putting them out of action.”
Israel launched missile attacks on Syria’s two main airports in Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, Syrian state media reported on the morning of October 12. The “simultaneous” attacks damaged the runways of airport, “put them out of service.” No one was injured as a result of the strike. It was Israel’s first attack on targets in Syria since Hamas’ deadly attacks began on Saturday.
Airport strikes
As is known, the Syrian airports of Damascus and Aleppo not only serve civil aviation, but also host military bases that are transit points for Iranian weapons, which are transferred to Hezbollah militants.
Syrian state media called today’s strikes on air bases “a desperate attempt by Israel to divert attention from Gaza.” However, it later became known that the plane of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was supposed to land in Syria.
The official is scheduled to visit Damascus as part of a regional tour (he arrived in Iraq today and is also expected to visit Lebanon). The minister’s trip is seen as an attempt by Tehran to rally regional support for Hamas in its fight against Israel.
“to be continued”
Note that Israel rarely acknowledges or discusses the attacks it carries out in Syria, but today the Israeli army confirmed that it has carried out airstrikes on Syrian airfields and promised more attacks on Damascus.
As IDF spokesman Avichai Edrai said, citing Chief of Staff Halevi, the attack on October 12 was in response to missile launches from Syria that did not reach Israel.
“Bashar al-Assad personally ordered the launch of missiles, they fell on the territory of Syria. It seems that the Syrian army has reached a high level of failure. The destruction of the airports of Damascus and Aleppo is an initial response in the event. In the coming days, we will destroy other things in Syria,” said Edrai.
Request from USA
Coinciding with the strikes in Syria, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel. He personally met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and assured that the United States will “always be there.”
At the same time, the top US diplomat urged Netanyahu to show restraint as Washington and Saudi Arabia stepped up efforts to prevent the war with Hamas from escalating into a regional conflict.
Blinken also reiterated the warning to other regional players, particularly Iran, Syria and Lebanon, not to “take advantage” of the crisis to attack Israel.
“Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and make sure this never happens again,” Blinken said, referring to the Hamas raid from Gaza last weekend that killed more than 1,000 people. including 27 Americans.
But he added: “How Israel does it is important. We as democracies differentiate ourselves from terrorists by holding ourselves to different standards… That’s why it’s so important to do everything of possible precautions to avoid harm to civilians.”
To this, Netanyahu responded: “Hamas is ISIS, and as ISIS is defeated, so is Hamas. There are many difficult days ahead, but I have no doubt that the force of civilization will prevail.”
It should be noted that after Israel, Blinken will head to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and then continue to meet with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar. According to American media, the tour of the Secretary of State of the United States is intended to send a deterrent signal to Iran, which supports Hamas, not to intervene in the conflict.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.