BICOM

What happened: According to Syrian sources, the airport in Aleppo in north-western Syria was targeted by an Israeli airstrike last night.
Syrian media reported that at least three explosions were heard in the area, resulting in significant damage to the runways and effectively putting them out of commission. No injuries were reported.
One report suggested that the runway that services military planes was targeted in the attack.
According to the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, storehouses used by pro-Iranian militias were also bombed.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid visited the Nevatim Air Force Base, where he received a security briefing from Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar. Following the briefing, Prime Minister Lapid related to the Iranian threat, saying: “It is still too early to know if we have indeed succeeded in stopping the nuclear agreement, but Israel is prepared for every threat and every scenario. If Iran continues to test us, it will discover Israel’s long arm and capabilities. We will continue to act on all fronts against terrorism and against those who seek to harm us.”
In parallel, Mossad Director David Barnea is in the US, as part of the diplomatic campaign against Iran.

Context: This was the sixth time Israel has attacked targets inside Syria in the last month.
Israel does not formally acknowledge every alleged strike inside Syria, but previously said that it had carried out hundreds of strikes on targets over the last few years to prevent the smuggling of sophisticated weapons systems and against Iranian entrenchment inside Syria.
Despite this, Iran continues to send shipments of weapons into Syria on a regular basis.
Most of the strikes have focused on the Damascus area and sites closer to the Israeli border. The strike last night was the second time in a week that the Aleppo airport had been targeted, signalling to Iran that Israel would not allow it to continue to deliver weapons to Syria via that airport.
Last Wednesday, Syrian media reported a series of explosions were heard in the area of the military airfield in Aleppo, which was struck by three missiles. Syrian media reported that an Iranian plane that was on the ground at the time was damaged.
In June, runways in the international airport in Damascus were also targeted and rendered temporarily unusable in a similar fashion.
Whist focusing on EU-mediated talks to return to the JCPOA nuclear deal, Mossed chief Barnea will also discuss Iranian arms smuggling to Syria and Lebanon in meetings with senior US officials.
According to Israel Hayom’s security analyst Yoav Limor, Barnea will warn his interlocutors “that the situation is more volatile than ever and could result in an escalation in hostilities”. Earlier this week, Limor wrote: “The two most recent air strikes in Syria that were ascribed to Israel — in Damascus and Aleppo, were designed to disrupt Iran’s ability to land cargo planes transporting weapons, but they were also designed to apply pressure on Syria and Russia. The Syrians would like to see Iran scale back its activity in Syria, but they are too weak to force Iran into compliance, and the Russians act only when their own interests are at stake. In the wake of the recent attacks, the Russians demanded that Iran remove some of its troops from several positions to keep Iranian forces at a distance from Russian forces.”
Since 2015 Israel and Russia have established a “deconfliction mechanism” that has enabled the Israeli air force to strike Iranian military targets in Syria. Despite Israel’s criticism of the Russia war in Ukraine, it appears this mechanism is still in place.

Looking ahead: In the short-term it appears all flights to Aleppo have been rerouted to Damascus.
Israel is expected to maintain ambiguity over these strikes, but to continue their efforts to thwart the transfer of Iranian weapons to their proxy militias and Hezbollah.