Footage purported to show a strike on the Aleppo airport in Syria, October 14, 2023.
Rockets fired earlier from Syria at Israel; airport again out of service, reportedly shortly after it was repaired following Thursday strikes that also targeted Damascus airport.
Israeli airstrikes targeted the airport of Syria’s government-held city of Aleppo late Saturday, putting it out of order, the country’s defense ministry claimed, hours after rockets were fired at Israel from Syria and days after a similar strike hit Aleppo and Damascus airports.
“At approximately 11:35 p.m… the Israeli enemy carried out an airstrike from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea… targeting Aleppo International Airport, causing material damage to the airport and putting it out of service,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry lambasted Israel, saying that the attack “confirms the criminal approach of the Israeli occupation,” accusing it of “crimes against the Palestinian people.”
While the Israel Defense Forces did not provide a comment on the claims, a senior Foreign Ministry official accused Iran of trying to deploy arms in Syria to attack Israel and said Jerusalem was taking action to foil that effort.
Joshua Zarka, head of strategic affairs at the ministry, responded to Joel Rayburn, director of the American Center for Levant Studies, who suggested on X (formerly Twitter) that Iran was working to move weapons into Syria to open a second front against Israel, and that the Israeli military was taking action in response.
