Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government had assured Israel that it was not working with Turkey to establish a permanent military presence at a Syrian airbase, but Israel attacked the facility despite those assurances.

The Israeli military struck the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria early Tuesday, dropping at least eight bombs on runways and hangars. The attack damaged recently rebuilt runways but caused no reported casualties.

The incident has heightened tensions between Syria, Israel and Turkey at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to prevent further escalation among key regional partners.

Al-Shaibani said there had been no plan to establish a Turkish military base or permanently deploy Turkish forces at Abu al-Duhur.

He said rehabilitation work at the facility was intended to repair infrastructure damaged during Syria’s war and prepare the base for use by the Syrian Air Force.

“There was no Turkish military build-up at the base in any sense that would justify such an interpretation,” al-Shaibani said, adding that the facility was largely empty and had not yet become fully operational.

Israel, however, told the Trump administration that the strike was intended to prevent what it believed was a Turkish military buildup at the base, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had warned Syria before the attack not to allow a Turkish presence at the facility.

“Our message was very clear: Don’t. I guess they didn’t quite understand the message,” Netanyahu said.

Al-Shaibani acknowledged that Turkish military officers had visited the base several days before the attack but said the visit was part of ongoing cooperation involving training and the exchange of military expertise.

He noted that Syria was rebuilding its military and civilian institutions and had similar cooperation arrangements with several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Russia.

“Syria is a sovereign state, and it has the right to establish relations of cooperation and alliance with any country, including Turkey,” he said.

Al-Shaibani also said Syrian and Israeli officials had been in contact before the strike and that Damascus had explained the nature of the reconstruction work while stressing that the base would remain under Syrian sovereignty and control.

The Syrian foreign minister said he was also in contact with the Trump administration before and after the attack in an effort to prevent further escalation.

President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that he had been briefed on the Israeli strike but declined to criticize the operation or say whether he was informed before or after it occurred.

Al-Shaibani said Damascus had warned Washington that it did not trust Israel’s intentions toward Syria, arguing that continued Israeli military action risked undermining stability in Syria and the wider region.