Aleppo airport out of service after Israeli air attack: State media
Al JazeeraAPR 2023
Israel has been conducting airstrikes against suspected Iranian weapons transfers and personnel and its proxies in Syria for almost a decade. Though the strikes are part of a low-intensity conflict to slow Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, the West has seemingly dropped its previous plan of diplomacy to instead allow Israel and other allies to use military force to settle their grievances with Tehran. This risky strategy underestimates the potential magnitude and repercussions of a military escalation.
Syria is a conflict zone involving multiple actors that could cause this "shadow war" to go hot. Meanwhile, Iran — in coordination with Russia, which controls much of the Syrian airspace — risks pushing it over the edge. Israel has been clear that it will not permit Iran to freely move weapons and fighters through Syria if such activities threaten Israeli security, and that it's justified in targeting Iranian assets in any of the countries into which Tehran has dug its tentacles.