Mossad chief and Syrian foreign minister discussed Turkish military deployment before airstrike

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On August 14, Mossad chief Roman Gofman held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani to discuss increasing Turkish military presence and the provision of weapons and drones to Syria. Following these communications, Israel bombed the Abu al-Duhur airbase on August 19, an action Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified as a response to Damascus allegedly permitting Turkish troops to deploy there. While the Turkish presidency rejected the allegations as an attempt to legitimize unlawful strikes, the contact marked one of the highest-level engagements between Israeli and Syrian officials under the administration of President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Consequences

Tensions in the region may persist as U.S. envoy Tom Barrack characterized the Israeli airstrikes as an unnecessary escalation and confirmed efforts to maintain a deconfliction mechanism between the parties. Continued Turkish cooperation with the Syrian government remains likely despite Israeli warnings that it will not tolerate a Turkish military presence on its northern frontier.

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