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US envoy says Washington ‘deeply concerned’ over Israeli airstrikes on Syrian airbase

August 18, 2026 at 1:27 pm

US Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack in Damascus, Syria on September 16, 2025. [ Izz Aldien Alqasem – Anadolu Agency]

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Tuesday that Washington is “deeply concerned” over confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in northern Syria, describing the attack as an “unnecessary escalation,” Anadolu reports.

“We are deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability,” Barrack said on US social media platform X.

“The (Ahmad) Al-Sharra government has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel,” he said.

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“The United States has in the past, and will continue in the future, to host discussions to encourage diplomatic cadence over kinetic frustration for both nations,” added Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkiye.

An Israeli aircraft carried out eight airstrikes targeting the runway of Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in the eastern countryside of Idlib in northern Syria early Tuesday, causing material damage to the airbase’s infrastructure, without causing casualties, according to Al-Ikhbariyya TV.

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