Alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted the international airports in Aleppo and Damascus, putting both out of service on Thursday, according to Syrian state media.
According to the reports, the strikes targeted the runways at the airports.
‼️ BREAKING: Israel attacked the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria. pic.twitter.com/YKUHjNPL9v
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) October 12, 2023
"This aggression is a desperate attempt by the criminal Israeli enemy to divert attention from the crimes it is committing in Gaza and the huge losses it suffers at the hands of the Palestinian resistance, which is part of the ongoing approach to supporting extremist terrorist groups that the Syrian army is fighting in the north of the country, which constitute an armed arm of the Israeli entity," said a "military source" to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
During the strikes, an Iranian Mahan Air flight that was about to land in Syria turned back to Tehran. Mahan Air has been shown to transport weapons, operatives, and funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah.
The Damascus International Airport and the Aleppo International Airport are frequently used by Iran to transfer weapons, equipment, and operative to its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah.
Additionally, during the strikes, a plane on which Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was in the air heading out of Iran, landing shortly afterward in Baghdad. The foreign minister is reportedly expected to visit Lebanon in the coming days.
Shells launched from Syria at Israel earlier this week
The alleged Israeli airstrikes come amid the IDF's ongoing Swords of Iron War against Hamas, and after shells were fired from the Syrian border into Israel on Tuesday night.
Some of the shells most likely landed in open fields in Israel's Golan Heights, the military said at the time.
The IDF responded with artillery and mortar fire toward the source of the shelling in Syria.