Israel launched its second airstrike in Syria within a week and responded to U.S. envoy criticisms condemning its earlier attacks, amid rising tensions with Turkey.
On Saturday, 22 Aug 2026 GMT+7, Israel initiated a new round of airstrikes in Syria, responding to comments by Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, who criticized Israel's previous attack on an airbase in northwestern Syria. Israel accused Turkey of attempting to take control of that area.
On Tuesday (18 Aug), Tom Barrack condemned Israel for striking an abandoned airbase in Syria, calling it an unnecessary escalation that does not promote regional stability.
Later, on Friday (21 Aug), Barrack told prominent influencer Mario Nawfal that the attack might be intended to provoke conflict with Turkey. In response, Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, criticized Barrack’s remarks on Saturday, calling them “full of inaccuracies.”
Katz posted on X that Israel had provided "intelligence to relevant U.S. authorities" before launching the strikes on Tuesday, and said Barrack’s statements were “full of incorrect information and contradicted the position of U.S. President Donald Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights,” after Barrack referred to the area as “occupied territory.”
Since the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, including deploying troops to United Nations-monitored demilitarized zones that separate Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights, a longstanding contested area.
Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (CE 1967) and later annexed the territory, a move officially recognized only by the United States and, most recently, Colombia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have engaged in fierce exchanges since Israel’s airstrikes on Tuesday, with Ankara announcing efforts to obtain an Interpol red notice to arrest Netanyahu on charges of "genocide."
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office condemned Erdoğan as a “Jew-hating dictator,” prompting Turkey’s presidential office to call the accusation “shameful nonsense” and accuse Israel of “trying to evade responsibility.”
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Source:cna