Mossad chief, Syrian foreign minister discussed Turkish buildup days before Israeli strike

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently said Israel had acted after its warnings over a Turkish military deployment were ignored.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Mossad Director Roman Gofman spoke with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on August 14, 2026, about Turkey’s military buildup in Syria, four days before Israeli warplanes struck the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province.

The phone conversation represented one of the highest-level contacts between Israel and Syria’s new government since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2014.

Gofman and al-Shaibani discussed Israeli concerns about Turkish military deployments and an expanding Turkish presence in northern Syria.

Four days later, Israeli aircraft struck the Abu al-Duhur military airbase.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently said Israel had acted after its warnings over a Turkish military deployment were ignored.

“Israel and Syria had agreed on a security status quo, which Syria nearly violated by allowing Turkish soldiers to deploy at an air base near Aleppo,” Netanyahu’s office said in an English-language statement.

He added that “Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings. Israel will not tolerate threats to its security and would welcome a return to the status quo.”

Netanyahu also said the strike followed warnings to Turkey about a southward military expansion that Israel considered a threat to its border.

The reported conversation between Gofman and al-Shaibani occurred days before the strike and involved the same issue of Turkish military activity in Syria that Netanyahu later cited in explaining Israel’s actions.

Turkey rejected Israel’s account of the reason for striking the airbase, describing the claims about its military position in Syria as “untenable allegations.”

Syrian officials, however, confirmed that Turkish officials had been present at the airbase. The Syrian acknowledgment did not establish that Turkish troops were preparing to deploy there, as Israel alleged.