Israel on Thursday launched simultaneous missile strikes on Syria's Damascus and Aleppo international airports, causing severe damage to their runways and putting them out of service.
"The Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air aggression with bursts of missiles targeting Aleppo and Damascus international airports, which led to damage to the airstrips of the two airports and their outage," the Syrian regime's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
A Syrian military source considered the targeting of the two airports "a desperate attempt by the criminal Israeli enemy to divert attention from its crimes committed in Gaza," according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
According to the Hebrew channel (private), the Israeli army said it hit the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, adding that the attack came "in response to the firing of mortar shells on the Golan Heights (occupied Syria) yesterday (Wednesday)."
Yesterday, the Israeli army announced that it had carried out artillery shelling inside Syria in response to the firing of shells from Syria towards the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip of the Syrian Golan Heights.
Israel has for years launched strikes on what it calls Iran-linked targets in Syria, including at Aleppo and Damascus airports, and Aleppo airport in the north of the country has been repeatedly out of service by Israeli strikes.
The Israeli bombardment came a day after a phone call overnight between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, during which they affirmed their "position in support of the Palestinian people in confronting the crimes they are subjected to," according to the Syrian presidency.
The Israeli bombardment of Damascus and Aleppo airports also comes on the eve of the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to Syria, and at a time when intensive Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have continued since the seventh of October in response to the operation "Al-Aqsa Flood".
Since Saturday, 1354,6049 Palestinians have been killed and 1300,<> injured in intensive and continuous Israeli raids in Gaza, while <>,<> Israelis have been killed in attacks on settlements around Gaza, according to official sources from both sides.