Airstrikes crippled the runways at the two main airports in Syria on Thursday as Iran’s foreign minister was reportedly expected to arrive in the country.
Syrian-state media blamed the strikes on Israel, which initially declined to comment on the matter. The airports that were targeted were international airports in the Syrian capital of Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Syrian air defenses tried to respond to the incident, which came a day before Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was expected to arrive in the country. No one was believed to be hurt in the airstrikes on the airports.
Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, later confirmed the strike on the Damascus airport, saying it was intended to stop “weapons deliveries from Iran”.
“These missiles, these drones are used against Israel,” he said in an interview with a German publication.
The incident comes after Palestinian terrorists launched an unprecedented wave of attacks in Israel several days ago, killing more than 1,300 people and injuring more than 3,000. At least 27 Americans were killed, and more than a dozen were still unaccounted for.
Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that it was hitting Syria with heavy artillery fire after terrorists in the country launched mortar attacks into Israel.
IDF soldiers are responding with artillery and mortar shells toward the origin of the launching in Syria. pic.twitter.com/4XgKFYsp8T
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 10, 2023
The Times of Israel noted that Israel has at various times targeted air and sea ports to stop Iran from delivering weapons to terrorists, including terrorists from Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a press conference on Wednesday that Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for the recent attacks in Israel, was worse than ISIS and would meet the same fate: complete destruction.
“We are fighting in full force in all theaters. Now, we are on the offensive,” he said. “Every Hamas operative will die. Hamas is ISIS. We will crush them and get rid of them just as the world crushed and got rid of ISIS.”