US Envoy Says Israel Did Not Warn Washington Before Syria Airstrike

The United States has raised concerns over Israel’s decision to strike a Syrian military airbase without, according to a senior US envoy, giving Washington advance warning.

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said Israel did not notify the United States before carrying out the strike on the Abu Duhur airbase in northwestern Syria on Tuesday.

The airstrike damaged the base but caused no reported casualties. The facility is located in Idlib province, relatively close to the Turkish border, making the attack particularly sensitive amid growing tensions between Israel and Turkey over their competing interests in Syria.

Barrack described the lack of prior coordination as worrying, saying the Israeli operation could have triggered a wider confrontation with Turkey. He suggested the strike might have been an attempt to “bait” Ankara into a confrontation, although he also said it was possible that the decision was made by an Israeli commander on the ground based on intelligence.

Israel has rejected the suggestion that Washington was kept in the dark.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel had shared intelligence with relevant US authorities and that warnings had also been communicated to Syrian officials. He maintained that Israel acted after concluding that Syria was close to violating an understanding by allowing Turkish military personnel to establish a presence at the airbase.

The Israeli government has said the strike was intended to prevent a Turkish military deployment at Abu Duhur. Israeli officials have also cited concerns about Turkey’s growing military influence in Syria.

Turkey, which has developed close ties with Syria’s new leadership and has been involved in military training and reconstruction efforts, condemned the Israeli strike. The United States has subsequently been working on a mechanism to improve military communication between Israel, Turkey and Syria and prevent similar incidents from escalating.

The incident has added another layer to an already complicated regional relationship involving Israel, Turkey and Syria.

Washington is seeking to prevent military miscalculations between its two important regional partners, particularly as Israel and Turkey increasingly find themselves on opposing sides of Syria’s security and political future.

Despite the tensions, diplomatic efforts are continuing. Syria and Israel held US-mediated discussions in Jordan on Sunday aimed at reducing tensions and reviving stalled security negotiations. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has said Damascus remains interested in restarting talks, even though trust between the two sides remains limited.

The latest dispute highlights the growing challenge facing Washington as it attempts to manage the competing security interests of Israel, Turkey and Syria while preventing the conflict from developing into a broader regional confrontation.