The Damascus International Airport located in Syria's capital was struck by an Israeli missile attack that also resulted in the death of at least two who were identified as soldiers while leaving two others injured.
The attack occurred on Monday and is the second in seven months that has targeted the Damascus International Airport and put it out of commission. The strike has caused material damage in a nearby area, said the Syrian army without giving further information about the incident.
Israeli Missile Strike
In a statement, the country's Ministry of Transport said that work to repair the damage left by the Israeli missile attack began immediately following the incident. Furthermore, some flights resumed while work in other parts of the airport was ongoing.
Israel has been known to target airports and ports in government-held parts of Syria as part of an alleged attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups who are backed by Tehran, including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
A report released by an opposition war monitor said that the Israeli missile strikes hit not only the airport but also an arms depot close to the facility south of Damascus. In a statement, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that four people were killed because of the attack, as per ABC News.
The conflicting reports could not immediately be reconciled to determine the accurate number of fatalities. The Observatory also said that the runway of the Damascus International Airport that was used for civilian flights was fixed. Another, which was used for cargo transport, remained out of service.
On Monday, Syria's Foreign Ministry said that the Israeli missile strikes were "part of a series of Israeli crimes" that targeted Syria. The ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to condemn the crimes and aggressions made by Israeli forces.
According to the Middle East Eye, the Israeli army has also said that they will continue to attack Syria's civilian infrastructure in its shadow war against Iran. There have been two prior attacks that targeted the Damascus International Airport.
Israel's Shadow War
One in June 2022 where the airport was bombarded by Israeli missiles that left three massive craters in each of its two operational runways. Then, in September, just as the airport was just repaired, Israeli missiles once again struck, disabling operations.
Since 2011, Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes that hit Syria, targeting government troops, Iran-backed fighters, and Hezbollah members. But in recent months, it has become more common for Israeli forces to target airports that have caused paralysis of aviation-related operations.
The spokesman of the Iranian foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani, condemned the latest attack, saying that the Islamic Republic of Iran "condemns in the strongest terms the continued crimes and aggressions against Syrian sovereignty by the Israeli entity."
A senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative, Rami Khouri, said that the latest Israeli missile strike could be a bid by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government that it would maintain its policy of striking targets deemed a danger to security, Al Jazeera reported.
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