West Asia war LIVE: Turkiye rejects Israeli claims after strike on Syria air base

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

T urkiye rejected on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) Israeli allegations that it posed a threat by preparing to send troops to a base in Syria, which was hit in a strike that the United States blamed on Israel.

Also read | Why is the Strait of Hormuz critical to global energy flows? | Explained

The strike marked extraordinary defiance by Israel of the United States, which has sought to support Syria’s new government led by a former jihadist allied with Turkiye.

“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after a day of official silence by Israel.

Also read | UAE accuses Iran of firing two ballistic missiles at its territory

“Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings,” said the statement, which stopped short of acknowledging Israeli responsibility.

Iraq’s cabinet approved mechanisms for exporting Iraqi crude through specialized international and local ‌companies and via multiple export outlets, the government said yesterday.

The contracts under the new mechanism will run for three months starting September ‌1, according to a statement issued after the cabinet meeting.

Iraq ‌is seeking to diversify ‌its ⁠oil export channels and maintain ⁠flexibility in marketing its crude amid the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of ‌Hormuz, which has disrupted regional oil flows and created uncertainty around shipping routes.

Turkiye today rejected Israeli allegations that it posed a threat by preparing to send troops to a base in Syria, which was hit in a strike that the United States blamed on Israel.

The strike marked extraordinary defiance by Israel of the United States, which has sought to support Syria’s new government led by a former jihadist allied with Turkiye.

“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after a day of official silence by Israel.

“Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings,” said the statement, which stopped short of acknowledging Israeli responsibility.