The Israeli bombardment last night on the Aleppo airport, in northern Syria, would have caused three deaths and five wounded, according to British intelligence sources. The damage to the runway would also have made it necessary to divert the flights of the private company Cham Wings, the only one that operates from the economic capital of the country, to Damascus, the political capital.
This is the second Israeli attack in a week on these facilities, in this case with six missiles. The alleged objective of the Jewish state would have been the "military positions" of "militias loyal to Iran", in reference to Hezbollah fighters and other Shiite forces. These continue to be the main bulwark against the jihadist militias - some of them affiliated with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda - which they evicted from Aleppo several years ago, sweeping them to the north of Idlib. But Tel Aviv, a declared enemy of Bashar al-Assad's regime, says it fears that these arsenals will reach Lebanon and could threaten the state of Israel itself.
The Israeli aggression, which took place after sunset, comes at a time when northern Syria is once again in the spotlight, for the time being more at the level of declarations than changes on the ground. Turkey has threatened a fourth invasion of northern territories with a Sunni Arab population, which have been under the military control of the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party for several years. But Moscow and Tehran have reportedly dissuaded such an intervention for the time being, while rumors circulate of some kind of indirect negotiation between Presidents Bashar al-Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Not surprisingly, Syrian immigrants - in Turkey they do not enjoy the qualification of "refugees" - have become one of the two major issues in the upcoming Turkish elections, along with inflation, which exceeds 80%. One of the visible heads of the opposition, Meral Aksener, has threatened this week to establish "concentration camps" for Syrians and promises, in case of victory, their complete expulsion - four million people - from Turkish territory in three years.
In any case, Moscow has veiledly warned Israel against continuing this type of aggression against its ally in Damascus, twenty-four so far this year. Even so, a few days ago it became known that one of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft and anti-missile batteries deployed in Syria would have been returned to the Russian Black Sea coast, to strengthen its control over Crimea and the new conquests. To do this, it would have had to cross the Bosphorus, with the acquiescence of Turkey, which is obliged by the Montreux convention to allow the return of Russian military ships to their bases, if they are registered in the Black Sea.
Finally, it should be said that in June another Israeli aggression forced the suspension of all flights with Damascus Airport as origin or destination, for almost two weeks, due to the damage inflicted on its facilities. Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Plateau since 1967.
