DAMASCUS: Israel carried out another strike in Syria on Saturday, days after a US envoy criticised an earlier Israeli attack on a military air base and warned that it could undermine regional stability.
US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack had described Israel’s earlier strike on a disused air base in northwestern Syria as an “unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability”. He later suggested in an interview that the attack may have been aimed at provoking tensions with Türkiye.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz rejected the criticism, accusing Barrack of making comments “full of inaccuracies” and saying they contradicted the position of US President Donald Trump on the Golan Heights.
Katz said Israel had provided “intelligence information to the authorised parties in the United States” before carrying out Tuesday’s strike.
Israel has conducted hundreds of attacks in Syria since the overthrow of longtime President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Israeli forces have also moved into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian troops in the Golan Heights for decades.
Katz also criticised Barrack for referring to the Golan Heights as “occupied”. Israel captured most of the strategic territory from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed it, a move recognised by the United States and, more recently, Colombia.
Tensions with Türkiye
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Türkiye of seeking to establish a military presence at the air base targeted earlier this week. Ankara has denied that Turkish officials visited the site.
The incident has further strained relations between Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who have exchanged sharp accusations.
Türkiye has also announced plans to seek an Interpol red notice for Netanyahu, accusing him of “genocide” in connection with the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Netanyahu’s office responded by calling Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator”, while Erdogan’s office described the remarks as “outrageous ravings” and accused Israel’s government of attempting to avoid accountability.
Meanwhile, Syrian state television reported that an Israeli drone strike wounded a man in Beit Jinn, southwest of Damascus near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the incident as a “flagrant violation” of the country’s sovereignty.
Israel’s military confirmed carrying out the strike, saying its forces “fired in southern Syria toward a terrorist who advanced terror attacks in the final stages of preparation”, without providing the individual’s identity.
Israel has continued to conduct incursions into Syrian territory and says it intends to maintain troops in a so-called security zone in southern Syria while seeking a wider demilitarised area.
Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told troops stationed in southern Syria this week that Israel was closely monitoring developments and would not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along its borders.
