Israeli Strikes Shut down Damascus, Aleppo Airports

Jerusalem, 22 October, 2023 (TPS) -- Israeli airstrikes overnight Saturday put the Damascus and Aleppo airports out of service for the second time in as many weeks, according to Syrian state media.

One person was killed and another wounded in the attacks, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

Israel allegedly hit the same airports on Oct. 12, damaging the runways at both.

The Oct. 12 strikes “damaged landing strips in the two airports, putting them out of service,” Syrian media said at the time, citing a military source.

Israel Hayom reported that the strikes not only forced Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to land in Baghdad instead of Damascus but also stopped an Iranian shipment of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles from reaching the Syrian capital.

According to the report, the Damascus airport was hit 10 minutes before a Mahan Air Airbus A340-313 from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport carrying 10 tons of missiles was scheduled to land.

The subsequent strike on the Aleppo airport landing strip was intended to prevent the flight from diverting there, according to the report.

Israel has struck hundreds of targets in Syria in recent years as part of an effort to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in the country. However, Jerusalem rarely acknowledges these incidents.

On Tuesday evening, mortar shells were fired at Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The incident occurred just hours after the Hezbollah terror group fired anti-tank missiles at the Jewish state from Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Mortar shells were also fired at Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights on Oct. 10, to which the IDF responded with artillery and mortar fire.

On Saturday, four Syrians were arrested on suspicion of throwing an improvised explosive device towards Israel’s embassy in Nicosia.