U.S. envoy in Turkey chastises Israel for “unnecessary escalation” with strikes on Syrian air base

The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey chastised Israel Tuesday for carrying out airstrikes on an air base in Syria’s northern Idlib region that he called an “unnecessary escalation.”

Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the strikes, but Syrian officials and state media said at least four strikes hit the Abu al-Duhur Airbase Monday night and Tuesday morning, causing damage but no casualties.

In a post on X, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said Tuesday that the U.S. was “deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase” — which was used by the Syrian air force — “constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”

In a statement published Tuesday, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the airstrikes an “unjustified act of aggression, a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty, and a dangerous escalation.”

Syria’s post-Bashar al-Assad government “has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces,” Barrack wrote. “It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel.”

“The United States continues to believe that restraint and engagement offer the more constructive course,” he added. “We encourage all parties to prioritize logical discourse over further military incidents.”

British war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said foreign fighters once used the base, which has long been out of service, but they were recently asked to leave. It added that Turkey — a supporter of Syria’s new government — has been working to rehabilitate the base.

Israel has carried out raids and strikes on Syrian territory since al-Assad, Syria’s longtime dictator, was ousted in December 2024. As the regime crumbled, Israel sent troops into a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian soldiers in the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Israeli forces have also pummelled Syria with hundreds of airstrikes in recent years, predominantly targeting Syrian army assets to render the facilities unusable by the new government, which is run by former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Israeli drone strikes on Damascus last year killed eight soldiers and wounded several others, and also drew a warning from the Trump administration to Israel.