Israeli media revealed new details about the strike that targeted the Abu al-Duhur military airport in the Syrian governorate of Idlib, pointing to a discrepancy between the Israeli military establishment and the political level regarding the announcement of the operation, amid fears that public statements against Türkiye would lead to an unnecessary escalation with Ankara.
The Israeli “i24 News” channel reported that the intelligence information that led to the strike was collected during the past few weeks, before being referred to the Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir.
According to the channel, Zamir presented the information to the political level and was able to convince him to agree to carry out the strike against the military airport located east of Idlib.
However, a dispute emerged after the operation was carried out, as the report stated that the Israeli security establishment was not satisfied with the statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz following the strike.
According to the channel, the security establishment preferred to keep the operation secret and not reveal its details, in contrast to the approach taken by Netanyahu and Katz by talking about it publicly.
The report did not reveal the nature of the intelligence collected or the specific objectives that prompted the Israeli army to target Abu Al-Duhur Airport.
In the same context, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the military establishment expressed its concern about the public statements made by Netanyahu and Katz against Turkey, warning that they may lead to an unnecessary escalation with Ankara, in light of the tension related to Turkish movements inside Syria.
According to Israeli reports, Israel is preparing for the possibility of continuing to move against what it describes as “Turkish attempts to tighten its grip on Syria,” at a time when a discrepancy appears between the political and military levels regarding how to manage Israeli operations inside Syrian territory and how to announce them.
Israel had claimed responsibility for the strike on the Abu al-Duhur base, and said that the operation came against the backdrop of what it considered an attempt to deploy Turkish forces at the base, while Netanyahu’s office indicated that Israel had previously warned Damascus against such a step.
These developments come amid escalating Israeli-Turkish tension over Syria, as US envoy Tom Barrack warned that Abu al-Duhur’s strike carried the risk of quickly turning into a direct military confrontation.
