An Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jet. © Amir Cohen / Reuters
Syria’s Damascus International Airport has sustained extensive damage as a result of the June 10 Israeli aerial attack.
Israeli fighter jets launched several munitions at the airport from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Some of the munitions were intercepted. However, the airport was badly hit.
Satellite images shared by ImageSat International shade some light on the damage at Damascus International Airport. According to the images, both the northern and southern runways of the airport were completely destroyed. Each runway received three direct hits from what appears to be heavy precision-guided munitions.
Click to see full-size image. Source: ImageSat International.
Click to see full-size image. Source: ImageSat International.
The airport’s arrival hall also sustained extensive damage as a result of the attack. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights shared photos showing some of the damage on June 11.
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- Click to see full-size image. Source: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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- Click to see full-size image. Source: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Israeli attack placed Damascus International Airport out for service. Initially, the Syrian Ministry of Transportation said that the airport will resume operations within “48 hours”. However, in a latter statement the ministry said that operations at the airport has been suspended until “further notice”.
The results of the attack were not limited to material losses. At least one civilian worker was wounded, according to official Syrian sources.
Russia, Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and a number of Palestinian factions, including the Hamas Movement, condemned the Israeli attack on the airport.
Several Israeli attacks targeted Damascus International in April and May. Israel claims that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been shipping advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon via to the airport. Tel Aviv has not presented any evidence to back these claims, yet.
The last attack on the airport was an unprecedented escalation by Israel. Despite this, war-torn Syria will not likely respond in order to avoid a full-on military confrontation.
