Syria’s Aleppo International Airport was shut down Wednesday after an Israeli air strike destroyed the runway at the facility, according to the Hezbollah-linked Lebanese Al Mayadeen news outlet. The main runway was hit by two missile strikes, rendering it out of service. Arab sources claimed that Syrian aerial defense systems were activated during the attack, the news outlet reported.
The air strike probably comes as part of the ongoing Israeli effort to prevent the transfer of weapons by Iran to its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, as the possibility of a two-front war with Israel looms closer.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, anti-tank guided missile fire was launched from Lebanon towards Israeli military forces near Israel’s northern border.
Israel Air Force fighter jets attacked Syrian military infrastructure and positions used to launch mortar shells overnight Wednesday in retaliation for shelling aimed at Israel Tuesday night, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reported. At least eight Syrian soldiers were killed in the attack, according to independent reports.
Israel has carried out multiple air strikes against both Aleppo and Damascus international airports numerous times over the past year, and particularly since the barbaric October 7 invasion of southern Israel by Gaza’s Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists.
Aleppo airport was targeted by Israel on October 14 and October 12; Damascus airport was struck on the 12th. Runways at both airports, both of which are used by Iranian aircraft delivering high-ranking officials and advanced weaponry to its proxies in the region, were damaged and the airports shut down after each attack.
The October 12 attacks forced an Iranian aircraft that had already taken off from Tehran to turn around and retrace its route; the aircraft in which Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was traveling was forced expected to land instead at Latakia, under the protection of a Russian military base.
The Iranian foreign minister nevertheless held meetings in Damascus and in Beirut despite the complications to his travel plans.
