Aleppo airport out of service after Israeli strikes on Assad regime

An Israeli air strike has hit the international airport in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, damaging a runway and putting it out of service, Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.

"At about 4:30 am (0130 GMT) this morning, the Israeli enemy undertook an aerial aggression from the direction of the Mediterranean west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport," the source said, adding that this resulted in damage to the airport runway.

An Israeli army spokesperson on Monday told the AFP news agency: "We do not comment on reports in the foreign media."

Syrian transport ministry official Suleiman Khalil said the damage centred on the only functioning runway, adding that "maintenance teams will start repair work today to return the airport to service as quickly as possible".

Flights were diverted to Damascus and Latakia airports, he told AFP.

Israeli strikes have repeatedly caused the grounding of flights at the airports in Aleppo and the capital, Damascus, both of which are controlled by the Assad regime.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside the regime-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.

Israel has targeted airports and sea ports in the government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to armed groups backed by Tehran, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the region joined Syria’s 12-year conflict helping tip the balance in favor of regime leader Bashar al Assad's forces.

Aleppo, which suffered widespread destruction in Syria’s civil war, was again heavily damaged in the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria last month.

Syria's war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry since it began in 2011.