TEL AVIV, August 19. /TASS/. Israel's August 18 air strike on Syria’s Abu Duhur airfield could have triggered a sharp escalation, including a direct military conflict between Israel, Turkey, and Syria, Tom Barrack, the US president’s special envoy for Syria and Iraq and the American ambassador to Turkey, said in an interview with the I24 TV channel.

In his opinion, the air strike ""carried a real risk of rapidly escalating to a direct military confrontation between Israel and Turkey, as well as with Syria. The Turkish forces did not know that Israeli aircraft were on their way to this specific Syrian base, nor did they know what their objective was. Therefore, they might have decided to scramble their own fighter jets, believing they themselves were under attack," Barrack explained. He described these events as "serious and worrying. However, we are relieved that no lives were lost and that the situation did not escalate."

According to Barrack, the lack of clear channels of communication between the states could have made the situation "much more serious." This state of affairs, in his opinion, needs to be changed.

"We are currently conducting quiet talks with all relevant parties regarding the renewal of a mechanism to prevent friction between Israel and Syria. Turkey can be invited to participate, either directly or indirectly."

Earlier, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Syria was "close to disrupting" the security status quo with Israel, having allowed the deployment of Turkish troops at an airbase near Aleppo. Israel "will not allow threats to its security," but "is ready to return to the agreed status quo," Netanyahu’s office added. The office noted that Israel "repeatedly warned Syria that the deployment of Turkish forces there would pose a threat," but, according to its claims, "Syria decided to ignore these warnings."

Earlier, the Syria TV channel said that on Tuesday the Israeli Air Force attacked the military airfield in Idlib Province, causing material damage. There is no information about casualties among civilians. AFP previously reported that unidentified aircraft carried out several strikes on Abu Duhur. According to Reuters, the runway and storage facilities were attacked.

In response to a request from TASS, the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on media reports about Israeli aircraft striking a military airfield in northwestern Syria.