US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack defended the Syrian government on Tuesday after Israeli air strikes targeted the Abu al-Duhur military air base in northern Syria, calling it an "unnecessary escalation".
"The Al-Sharaa government has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel," he wrote on X.
"We are deeply concerned," he added. "[This] does not advance regional stability."
Israel has not confirmed it was behind the attack, but Barrack said it was responsible.
His comments followed a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Istanbul, Turkey, one day earlier.
The Syrian government condemned the attack and said eight strikes hit the runway of the defunct air base in the early morning hours of Tuesday, local time.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes followed a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days "as part of efforts to reactivate it".
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