Israeli Strikes Hit Syria Runway       08/18 06:10

   Israeli airstrikes on an airbase in northwest Syria early Tuesday caused 
material damage without inflicting any casualties, Syrian state TV reported.

   DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Israeli airstrikes on an airbase in northwest Syria 
early Tuesday caused material damage without inflicting any casualties, Syrian 
state TV reported.

   State TV said eight strikes hit the runway of the Abu Duhur airbase in the 
northwestern province of Idlib. It gave no further details.

   There was no comment from the Israeli military on the attack. Turkish 
officials also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

   The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said 
foreign fighters used to stay at the base before they were recently asked to 
leave.

   The Observatory added that Turkey, which is a main backer of Syria's 
government, has been rehabilitating the air base that had been out of service 
for years during Syria's conflict that left nearly half a million people dead.

   Since the fall of Bashar Assad's government in December 2024 when insurgents 
marched into his seat of power in Damascus, tensions between Israel and Turkey 
over Syria have been on the rise.

   Israel carried out hundreds of airstrikes around Syria after Assad's fall, 
mainly destroying assets of the Syrian army to keep them out of the hands of 
his successors.

   Israeli drone strikes on a southern suburb of Damascus last year killed 
eight soldiers and wounded others.

   The new authorities in Damascus have said they do not want a conflict with 
Israel, but Israel has remained suspicious of the government led by former 
Islamist insurgents.