Haaretz: Syria seeks to contain Israeli escalation after airstrike on Idlib airfield

PARIS, France — Haaretz reported that the Syrian government views Prime Minister Netanyahu as attempting to draw Syria into an unprepared conflict. Citing Syrian sources, the newspaper said Damascus lacks the resources for a new war after years of fighting and destruction, and is closely monitoring developments while maintaining regular contact with Washington and Paris to keep them informed. According to the report, Syria is prepared to step up operations against Hezbollah and Islamic State cells in the south and remains open to new security arrangements with Israel, or to modifications of existing ones, within the framework of the 1974 disengagement agreement. Haaretz recalled that Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in the Idlib countryside, near the Turkish border, in a move described as unprecedented since the fall of the Assad regime days earlier. Reuters reported that the head of Israel's foreign intelligence service held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani before the airstrikes, and that Shibani's assurance that no Turkish element was present at the airfield did not prevent the bombing. Haaretz added that Israel cites the existence of an international agreement, joined by Turkey and Israel, that sets control boundaries in Syria, and argues that Damascus endorsed Turkey's departure from that framework.