ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Israel on Tuesday night claimed that it struck a Syrian airbase in Idlib province to prevent the deployment of Turkish troops at the site, with Ankara denying the claims as "frivolous" and condemning the breach of Syrian sovereignty.

Syrian state television reported on Tuesday that Israel conducted eight airstrikes against Abu al-Duhur military airbase in the northwestern Idlib province, causing material damage but no injuries, with condemnations subsequently flowing in from regional and international states.

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack denounced the strikes as an "unnecessary escalation," asserting that "the [Syrian] government has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel."

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later that night said in a statement that "Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo."

"Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel's security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings. Israel will not tolerate threats to its security, and would welcome a return to the status quo."

The current government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa rose to power after ousting former leader Bashar al-Assad in a Turkish-backed offensive in December 2024, with Ankara having since maintaining intimate ties with the new administration in Damascus.

"The frivolous allegations put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister's office aim to legitimize Israel's unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Turkish government said in a statement in response.

"The accusations raised stem from Netanyahu's intent to continue his expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region ahead of elections in Israel."

Tensions between Turkey and Israel have increasingly escalated in recent years, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's outspoken condemnation of Israel's genocidal Gaza campaign having underlined the two regional powers' rival bids for greater influence in the Middle East.

Since the fall of Assad, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria - ostensibly with the goal of destroying arms caches and protecting the country's Druze minority - and occupied Syrian territory, making repeated incursions into border areas. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during a visit to Syria last month, rejected Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights, most of which was captured from Syria during the 1967 war, and said that "violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must cease."