Israel says US criticism of strike on Syria 'full of inaccuracies'

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Saturday condemned US ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack, who is also Washington's point man on Syria, after he criticised an Israeli strike on a Syrian military base near Türkiye.

Katz wrote on X that Israel had passed on "intelligence information to the authorised parties in the United States" before the strike, and that Barrack's comment was "full of inaccuracies and positions "contradict the stance of US President (Donald) Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights".

On Tuesday, Israel bombed the disused Abu Duhur base in northwestern Syria, which was damaged during the country's civil war and has been out of service since 2012.

Shortly after the strike, Barrack wrote on X that the US was "deeply concerned" that the strikes constitued an "unnecessary escalation".

In an interview Barrack gave to Lebanese-American influencer Mario Nawfal broadcast on Friday, the diplomat suggested that the strike might have been a move to provoke a conflict with Türkiye ahead of a general election in Israel on October 27.

Barrack also said that the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, and whose annexation was recognised by the US in 2019, were "occupied" by Israel.

In his statement, Katz also pushed back against domestic criticism of the bombing in Syria, particularly from some leaders of the opposition.

"The attempt by elements in the opposition and parts of the media to paint the operation in Syria in political colors stems from a combination of ignorance, a lack of understanding of Israel's security interests, and a constant desire to bash the government—and it deserves every condemnation," he wrote.

On Saturday, Israel conducted another strike in Syria, saying it targeted a militant southwest of Damascus, an operation that Syria condemned as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty.