The Israeli Ministry of Defense assured this Saturday that it communicated to the United States its intention to bomb the military airport of Abu Duhur, near Idlib, in northwest Syria, and that it later informed about the operation despite not having received a response from the administration of Donald Trump.
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“Intelligence information was transmitted to the authorized elements in the United States. After the request received no response, the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) and I (the Defense Minister, Israel Katz) authorized carrying out the attack, which was successfully executed,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Israel bombed the military airport during the night of August 18 to 19, alleging an alleged imminent deployment of Turkish troops in the area.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Israeli armed forces had recommended “on several occasions” carrying out the bombing due to “clear intelligence information received about Turkey’s intentions to carry out actions that could endanger the security of the State of Israel.”
The airport is located about 300 kilometers from the Syria-Israel border. The Ministry also stated that the attack caught the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “in flagrante” and “forced him to back down.”
However, both Turkey and Syria denied the alleged plan to deploy troops in Abu Duhur.
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The Israeli statement comes amid an escalation between Israel and Turkey, also marked by the bombing of the airport.
In the document, Defense also responded to the Israeli opposition and the press, two months before the elections, stating that “painting the operation in Syria with political colors is a combination of ignorance, lack of understanding of Israel’s security interests, and a constant desire to attack the Government.”
The day before, Netanyahu called Erdogan an “anti-Semitic dictator,” after Turkey requested Interpol to execute an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader.
Also this Saturday, Israel bombed southern Syria with the aim of attacking an alleged “terrorist” who, according to a statement from the Israeli Army, had infiltrated territory occupied by Israeli troops.
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