US Condemns Israel Airstrikes on Syria as 'Unnecessary Escalation'

The United States issued a rare public rebuke of Israel on 19 August after Israeli aircraft carried out eight airstrikes on the Abu Duhur military airbase in northwestern Syria, close to the Turkish border. Washington described the attack as an "unnecessary escalation" that does not advance regional stability — an unusually blunt criticism of a close ally.

What happened at Abu Duhur

Syrian state television reported that the strikes hit the runway and storage facilities at Abu Duhur, which had been out of service as an active military airfield since 2013 and was seized by anti-Assad rebel forces in December 2024. No casualties were reported. Israel neither confirmed nor denied the strikes, but its government stated that Syria "was on the verge of breaching" an agreed security status quo by allowing Turkish troops to deploy to the airbase near Aleppo.

US, Syrian and Turkish reactions

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and Trump's special envoy for Syria and Iraq, posted on X: "We are deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability." Syria's foreign ministry called the strikes "an unjustified act of aggression" that imperils regional security. Turkey — while declining to confirm whether any of its troops had moved to the airbase — firmly rejected Israel's framing that Turkish presence posed a threat. Ankara's communications directorate said Israel's allegations were designed to "legitimize unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria's sovereignty".

Background

Abu Duhur sits roughly 70 kilometres from the Turkish border. Rebel forces swept through Syria and seized it in December 2024, when the Assad government fell. The base's future role has become a flashpoint as Turkey and Israel both seek influence in the new Syria.