Israel steps up Syria air strikes, claims Turkiye aims for 'protectorate'

Israel stepped up air strikes on Syria overnight, declaring that the attacks are a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their allies in Turkiye of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate, Reuters has reported.

The Israeli strikes against air bases, a site near Damascus and in the south west, put renewed focus on Israeli concerns about the “Islamists” who deposed Bashar Al-Assad in December. Israeli officials view them as a rising threat on their border.

The Israeli army, which seized Syrian territory on the border after Assad was toppled, said that its forces killed several “militant” Syrians who opened fire on Israeli troops operating in that area overnight. Syria’s state news agency SANA said that Israeli shelling had killed nine people in the area.

According to Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, the air strikes late on Wednesday evening were “a clear message and a warning for the future: we will not allow the security of the State of Israel to be harmed.”

Katz said in a statement that Israel’s armed forces would remain in buffer zones within Syria and act against threats to its security, warning Syria’s government it would pay a heavy price if it allowed forces hostile to Israel to enter the occupation state.

Reflecting Israeli concerns about Turkish influence in the new Syria, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Ankara of playing a “negative role” there, in Lebanon and in other regions. “They [Turkiye] are doing their utmost to have Syria as a Turkish protectorate. It’s clear that is their intention,” he told a press conference in Paris.

The Syrian foreign ministry called the Israeli strikes an unjustified escalation aimed at destabilising the country, and called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to “stop its aggression”.

Israel bombed Syria frequently when the country was governed by Assad, targeting the foothold established by his ally Iran during the civil war.

The strikes late on Wednesday night were some of the most intensive Israeli attacks in Syria since Assad was toppled.

The Syrian foreign ministry said that Israel struck five separate areas within a 30-minute window, resulting in the near-complete destruction of the Hama air base and wounding dozens of civilians and soldiers.

The Israeli military said that it had struck remaining military capabilities at air bases in Hama and Homs provinces, in addition to remaining military infrastructure in the Damascus area, where Syrian media and officials said the vicinity of a scientific research facility was hit.

In Hama, a Syrian military source told Reuters that a dozen strikes demolished the runways, control tower, arms depots and hangars at the military airport. “Israel has completely destroyed Hama air base to ensure it is not used,” said the source.

Israel also said on Wednesday it targeted the T4 air base in Homs province, which it has hit repeatedly over the past week.

In the incident in south-west Syria, the Israeli military said that its forces were operating in the Tasil area, “confiscating weapons and destroying terrorist [sic] infrastructure” when several “militants” fired on them.

“The forces responded with fire and eliminated several armed terrorists from the ground and air,” said the Israelis, adding that there were no casualties among Israeli forces. “The presence of weapons in southern Syria constitutes a threat to the State of Israel. The IDF will not allow a military threat to exist in Syria and will act against it.”

The interim government in Damascus said after the ouster of the Assad regime that it has no wish to attack Israel or anywhere else. As is the case elsewhere, it is Israel which is the aggressor and a threat to its neighbours, reflecting its “expansionist intentions”.

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