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Airports in Damascus

Photo: Louai Beshara / AFP

On Thursday morning, Syrian state television reported Israeli airstrikes on the main airports in the capital Damascus and in the city of Aleppo. Now the Israeli side has commented on this and confirmed the reports, at least in part.

Israel's ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, spoke to the TV channel "Welt" about the Israeli attack on the Damascus airport. Asked if he could confirm the attack, Prosor said, "The answer is yes. We've done that in the past, a couple of times a week." The aim of the attack is "arms deliveries from Iran with missiles and drones". Prosor emphasized "how intensive these arms deliveries from Iran to Syria and Lebanon are." That's why we have so many weapons and missiles in the area."

Asked whether only the airport or other targets in Syria had been targeted, Prosor replied evasively: "We limit ourselves only to things that have a direct line to Israel. These rockets, these drones, are being used against Israel. And we go directly to these arms deliveries. But we've been doing this for a long time." Israel wants to "attack the infrastructure of terror," Prosor said. Prosor did not confirm the attack on the Aleppo airport reported by the Syrian side.

According to Syrian state television, runways were damaged in both Damascus and Aleppo. Operations had been suspended. The Israeli military did not comment on the reports.

Syrian Rockets Fired at Israeli Positions

These were the first Israeli airstrikes on Syria since the beginning of Hamas' attack on Israel. To prevent Israel's arch-enemy Iran and allied militias from expanding their military influence in Syria, Israel's air force bombs targets there more frequently. Iran is one of the Syrian government's most important allies in the civil war. Rockets are also flying from Syria towards Israel again and again.

Even after Hamas' large-scale attack on Saturday, rockets were fired from Syria at Israeli positions. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attacks were carried out by Palestinian groups in Syria.

asc/Reuters/dpa/AFP