Damascus Airport Runways Out of Service After Israeli Strikes, Syrian Transport Ministry Says

On Thursday, the Syrian Defense Ministry said that Israel had fired missiles at a number of targets south of Damascus. Syria said that Israeli warplanes aimed to hit the airport.

"As a result of the Israeli aggression, which hit the infrastructure of the international airport of Damascus, the runways are significantly damaged in several places along with the navigation lighting," the ministry said, as quoted by the Shams FM broadcaster.

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The attack also damaged the second terminal of the airport.

"At the moment, our specialists are working to eliminate the consequences of the airstrikes and repair what was damaged as a result of the attack. The airport's operations will be resumed immediately after repair and safety checks," the ministry added.

Syria's Cham Wings Airlines said earlier that all of its flights were diverted from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the north of the country.

Russia's Foreign Ministry Strongly Condemns Israeli Airstrike at Damascus Airport

Also on Friday, Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, said that Moscow strongly condemns the Israeli airstrikes at the airport and calls on the Israeli side to halt such activities.

"In this regard, we are forced to emphasize again that the ongoing Israeli shelling of Syria territory … is absolutely unacceptable. We strongly condemn Israel's provocative attack on critical Syrian civilian infrastructure," the spokeswoman said in a statement published by the ministry.

Zakharova also said that such strikes create risks "for international air traffic."

"We demand from the Israeli side to halt such activities," Zakharova added.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on reports of an attack, the press service told Sputnik.