BEIRUT, October 13. /TASS/. All domestic and international flights by Syrian air carriers, Syrian Airlines and Cham Wings Airlines, will be performed from the airport of Latakia, a civil aviation official has told TASS.

A source in the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority said airports of Syria’s capital Damascus and its largest city of Aleppo are not operating at this point, because their runways were damaged by a recent Israeli rocket attack.

"All flights have been temporarily moved to Latakia, from where Cham Wings will take passengers to Russia in accordance with the schedule," the source said.

Sources from Cham Wings Airlines’ head office said that Airbus A320 is performing one flight to Moscow every week. The privately owned company, founded in 2007, performs flights to 14 cities in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Asia.

Earlier, Israel struck runways in the airports of Damascus and Aleppo. The attack occurred amid the latest escalation of conflict between Israel and Palestinian radical groups from the Gaza strip.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel declared a state of readiness for war, announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. Over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,200 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and almost 4,000 people have been wounded.