The Hebrew State, concerned by the rise in Iran’s arms deliveries to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement, via Syria, launched a raid against the main airport hub in the country, paralyzing air traffic for Several weeks.
Le Monde
In eleven years of war, Damascus International Airport had never stopped working. Friday, June 10, air traffic was suspended Sine Die after strikes which caused significant damage to the main airport hub in the country. Syrian authorities attributed the attack to Israel. The Hebrew State has multiplied, in recent months, the strikes in the perimeter of the airport, on the grounds that Iran uses it to transfer weapons to the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
Landage tracks, navigation lights and a passenger terminal have been damaged, said the Minister of Transport, Zouheir Khouzeim. Despite the insurance given by the Syrian official about the upcoming reopening of the airport, experts believe that work could take several weeks.
“severe negative consequences”
“It is a strong act, although it will not have a huge financial and commercial impact. The activity of Damascus airport has been very reduced since the start of the war in Syria. Little Companies make the connection with Syria, but Damascus remains an important point of arrival for Syrian travelers from the Gulf or Turkey, “says Jihad Yazigi, the director of the economic letter Syria Report .
The airport is mainly used by Syrian companies, the national company Syrian Airlines and the private company Cham Wings. Syrian Airlines promised the reimbursement of canceled flights, while Cham Wings indicated that it was rerouped its flights to Aleppo airport, in the northwest of the country, and would provide transport to the Syrian capital for free.
In addition to these companies, only a few international companies, notably Iraqi (Fly Baghdad, Ur Airlines), Iranian (Mahan Air) or Pakistanaise (Pakistan International Airlines), assured regular connections with Damascus. The closure of the airport could have an impact on the arrival of Shiite pilgrims from the Middle East, as well as on the movement of businessmen and Syrian expatriates inside the country and in the region.
It also has “severe negative consequences” on the supply of humanitarian aid, deplored the United Nations in a statement on Monday. “Targeting civil infrastructure is contrary to international and humanitarian law,” condemned Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria. All UN humanitarian flights had to be suspended. Since the beginning of the year, these flights have allowed the transport of more than 2,000 humanitarian workers between Damascus, Aleppo and Qamichli, who coordinate the aid provided to more than two million Syrians in the north and east of the country, as well as the routing of medical supplies.
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