Two airports in Syria were struck by Israel, according to reports, activating air defence.

 

Syrian state media reported that Israeli strikes on Thursday targeted Syria's two main airports. This was the first such attack since a Hamas attack on Israel at the weekend sparked violent fighting.

Without going into further detail, the state media stated on the messaging service Telegram that "Israeli aggression strikes the airports in Damascus and Aleppo."

According to sources, Israel's airstrikes struck Syrian airport runways in the already-devastated cities caused by the war, triggering the nation's air defence systems.

The reports further stated that all flights into and out of Syria have been cancelled.

Flights at the airports in Aleppo and the capital Damascus, both of which are under the control of the government of war-torn Syria, have frequently been grounded as a result of Israeli strikes.

The most recent attacks occurred as Hamas and Israel continued their six-day-long heavy-fire exchange after hundreds of Hamas armed men entered Israel from Gaza on Saturday, killing more than 1,000 civilians.

These also occurred during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Israel and only hours after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called on Arab and Islamic nations to band together to combat Israel over the phone with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad.

Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on its northern neighbour over the more than ten-year conflict in Syria, largely focusing on Hezbollah fighters, Iranian-backed troops, and Syrian army sites.

Israel seldom discusses specific operations it conducts in Syria, but it has frequently stated that it will not permit its arch-enemy Iran, which backs Assad's government, to increase its presence there.

Iran, which supports Hamas, praised Hamas' attack on Israel on Saturday even though it stated it had nothing to do with it.