By Editorial Dept - Aug 21, 2026, 7:00 AM CDT
Israel is trying to establish a veto over where Turkey can deploy forces in Syria, and on Tuesday it bombed a Syrian airbase to enforce that. Eight strikes hit Abu al-Duhur because Israel determined that Damascus was gearing up to allow Turkish troops onto the base, despite repeated Israeli warnings against that. Turkey was not notified before the attack. The Turkish military saw Israeli aircraft flying north toward the Turkish border without knowing their target, creating what Washington viewed as a real risk of Turkish fighters being scrambled and a direct military confrontation between Israel and Turkey.Israel claims that Damascus was taking steps to let Turkish forces on the base that violated Syria’s security “status quo” with Israel. The fight is over how much of Syria Turkey can turn into a permanent military position. Ankara is already training the Syrian army and helping rebuild bases and other military infrastructure in deals with the new government of Ahmed al-Sharaa. Abu al-Duhur is about 70 km from the Turkish border, had been out of service as a dedicated military airfield for more than a decade, and was being refurbished with Turkish support. For Israel, the problem is that this base would bring Turkish forces deeper into northwestern Syria, and closer to Israel, with Syria benefiting from Turkish military training and other agreements that Israel views as a threat to its own borders. Israel has enjoyed wide freedom to strike inside…
