Syria says Israeli air attack puts Aleppo airport out of service

An Israeli air strike put Aleppo International Airport out of service, the Syrian Defence Ministry said on Monday.

A source said the attack happened at around 4.30am local time.

“The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack … targeting Aleppo International Airport. The aggression caused material damage to the airport's runway and put it out of service,” another military source said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said weapon depots at the adjacent Nayrab military airport came under fire.

Syrian Transport Ministry official Suleiman Khalil said the damage centred on the only functioning runway, adding that “maintenance teams will start repair work today to return the airport to service as quickly as possible”.

Flights were diverted to Damascus and Latakia airports, Mr Khalil told AFP.

Israeli strikes have repeatedly caused the grounding of flights at the airports in Aleppo and the capital Damascus, both of which are controlled by the government.

The incident comes a week after one pro-government fighter was injured in Israeli strikes on military installations near Damascus, Syria's state media reported.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory since the civil war began in 2011. Most have been aimed at Iran-backed militias supporting the government and fighters from Hezbollah.

It has also attacked airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has seen at least two attacks on its airport this year, in March and May. The latter attack killed one soldier and wounded seven.

Last September, Israeli air strikes stopped services at Aleppo airport, cratering one of the runways. Attacks are often said to follow Iranian arms transfers to Damascus and Aleppo airport. Damascus airport also hosted a headquarters building of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was heavily bombed in Israeli attacks.

Israel rarely comments on air strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-foe Iran to expand its presence in the country.

An Israeli army representative on Monday told AFP: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”

Israel has, however, commented on specific attacks, sometimes months or even years later. In 2007, unidentified aircraft bombed a nuclear research facility in Syria. Israel acknowledged it was behind the attack in 2018.

In early 2022, then Israeli army Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said that Israel had conducted 500 air strikes in Syria in 2021 alone.

Targets often include ballistic missiles and rockets sent to Iran-backed militias, which can then be fired across the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, weapons being moved into neighbouring Lebanon, to supply the Hezbollah militia, and Syrian air defence systems protecting the sites. Commanders of militias, including Iranian military advisors, have also been killed in the past.

In recent months, the air campaign has also expanded with air strikes hitting drone production facilities.

Syria's war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry since it began in 2011.

The war pulled in foreign powers and extremist fighters, and while the front lines have mostly quietened in recent years, large parts of the country's north remain outside government control.