US Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said Washington wants to ease tensions between Turkey and Israel after the two sides escalated their rhetoric over Israel’s strike on Abu al-Duhur military airport in the eastern Idlib countryside (northwestern Syria).

In an interview with PBS NewsHour on Friday, August 21, Barrack called on Israel to warn Turkey next time before taking any similar military step. He said the solution lies in lowering tensions, intensifying dialogue, deepening talks, and avoiding such surprise military actions.

Barrack said Israel believed it had reached an implicit understanding with Syria, and had discussed with Turkey the idea that everything had changed after October 7, 2023.

He said Israel wants a clear line of sight between itself and Iran and is strongly pressing for no military equipment or personnel, whether defensive or offensive, to be deployed between Israel and Iran.

Barrack added that the problem was that Turkey had not known the Israeli aircraft were coming. He said he expected the disagreement between the two sides to remain political, and called for a return to dialogue to avoid clashes or surprises.

Israeli warplanes struck Abu al-Duhur military airport in the eastern Idlib countryside on August 19, with no injuries reported.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and Syria had agreed to maintain the “status quo” on security matters. It said Syria was about to breach that status quo by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at an air base near Aleppo.

Turkey rejected the Israeli account and accused Tel Aviv of using “flimsy claims” to justify airstrikes that Ankara described as illegal and a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu

The Turkish government said it would seek an Interpol Red Notice for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a criminal case linked to an attack on activists who were seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said in a post on X on Saturday, August 22, that Turkey had issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and another suspect on charges including genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture. The warrants are part of a case filed against 35 people following Israel’s interception of the flotilla in international waters.

Gürlek added that the Justice Ministry had asked the Interior Ministry to seek Interpol Red Notices so that requests to locate those sought could be circulated internationally. He said Turkey would use all available legal mechanisms to ensure, in his words, that Israel is held accountable for its crimes in Gaza.

A “Pathetic” Move

For its part, Netanyahu’s office said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “pathetic” attempt to intimidate Israel’s leaders and soldiers, describing Israel as “the only true democracy in the Middle East,” would go nowhere.

Netanyahu’s office described Erdoğan as an “antisemitic dictator,” pledging that Israel “will continue to firmly confront Turkey’s attempts to destabilize the region.”

The office accused Erdoğan of carrying out “massacres against the Kurds,” supporting “the massacre by the terrorist organization Hamas,” and repressing his own people. It also pledged to continue confronting what it called “Turkey’s hypocrisy,” claiming that the Turkish president was seeking to “extend his aggression against Israel to include Syria,” and adding that Israel would not tolerate this.