What happened

Israeli missiles struck Damascus International Airport around 2am on 2 January 2023, temporarily putting it out of service before debris was cleared and flights resumed by 9am; targets in southern Damascus were also hit the same night. Syria's army said a volley of air-launched missiles came 'from the direction of Lake Tiberias in Israel,' and reported two Syrian soldiers killed. Two regional intelligence sources said the strikes targeted an outpost near the airport belonging to Iran's Quds Force and militias it backs. The strike was part of Israel's sustained campaign against Iranian military assets in Syria, which Israeli military leadership said had intensified to roughly one strike per week around this period. This record introduces this recurring pattern of Israeli strikes on Damascus's civilian airport (used as cover for Iranian military logistics) to the site's airbase/airport-strike coverage, added following the extension of the backfill window back to 2020.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.