Israel's Aug. 18 strike on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur Air Base in Idlib was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest entry in a now-familiar strategy: make an unprovoked strike and let the region deal with the consequences. Syria is simply the newest theater, in addition to Lebanon, Iran and, of course, the genocide in Gaza.
After the Israeli jets hit Abu al-Duhur's runways and hangars, Israel didn't even claim that they did it. Instead, it was the U.S. ambassador to Ankara, Tom Barrack, who confirmed the attack publicly. When the story became big in the headlines, the Israeli premier’s office then said the strike was pre-emptive: Syria was "on the verge of breaching" a security understanding by letting Turkish troops deploy at the base, despite repeated warnings.
This story was not more than another excuse, however, for Israel to expand its policy of creating instability in the region. Of course, nobody has accepted Israel’s story about Abu al-Duhur Air Base.
The Turkish Defense Ministry called it baseless and warned against Israeli strikes on neighboring states becoming "routine." Syria's foreign minister said Damascus had told Israel in advance there was no plan for a Turkish base and that it was only routine cooperation for infrastructure rebuilding. Turkish officers had visited the site, yes, but a visit is not a deployment.
