Israel's military chief warned on Wednesday that Israel would take action against the presence of any hostile forces on its border, during a visit to the Syrian border region a day after Damascus reported an Israeli strike on a military airbase in north-western Syria.
"We see what is happening and are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front," Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said during the meeting with Israeli reservists, according to a statement from the military. "We must prevent the development of terrorist threats, while also preventing the formation of a significant military threat on our borders."
Following the overthrow of Syria's long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, the Israeli army has significantly expanded its operations in southern Syria and deployed troops to a UN-controlled demilitarized buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria.
On Tuesday, Syrian authorities said the Israeli military bombed a military airfield in north-western Syria near the Turkish border.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry and Turkey, which has close ties to the leadership in Damascus, condemned the attacks as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said late Tuesday that Syria had allowed Turkish troops to be stationed at the base and that Israel had warned Damascus against the move, citing security concerns.
The Turkish presidency on Wednesday rejected the Israeli claims and accused Netanyahu of pursuing an "expansionist and destabilizing" policy in the region ahead of elections in Israel.
Relations between Israel and Turkey have been strained for years and have deteriorated further over the Gaza war. Turkey maintains close political ties with the Islamist militia Hamas and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly voiced sharp criticism of Israel's actions against Palestinians.
US special envoy for Syria and ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack also said on X that the Israeli strike "constitutes an unnecessary escalation."
He told the Jerusalem Post that the attack poses a risk of escalating into direct military confrontation between Israel, Turkey and Syria.
The airbase near Aleppo had reportedly been out of service for years but was being refurbished with Turkish support, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.