From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
US working on deconfliction mechanism among Turkey, Israel and Syria, US envoy says
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The United States is working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria, US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack says, after a reported Israeli strike on a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border.
Barrack, who is also US ambassador to Turkey, says Turkey had not been warned about the Israeli strikes, “and consequently observed the aircraft heading north toward its territory and therefore could have reasonably prepared its own response,” referring to possible Turkish military reaction.
“Thankfully, calm heads were able to prevent the situation from deteriorating further,” Barrack tells Reuters in a phone interview.
Turkey condemned Israel’s strikes on the Abu al-Dahur airbase in northwestern Syria but did not comment further, including about a potential deconfliction mechanism. Its relations with Israel have collapsed since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and subsequent Gaza war.
A deconfliction mechanism is a communications channel intended to prevent misunderstandings or accidental confrontations between military or political actors.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and signed a mutual defense pact this month with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, has become one of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s main allies.
Israel’s strikes on the Syrian airbase “reflected a perception — whether accurate or misplaced — that Türkiye might in the near future increase its presence at that base,” Barrack says, using the Turkish name for Turkey.
“This underscores the need for a deconfliction mechanism involving Israel, Syria and Türkiye. That is something we are actively working on to establish in order to prevent future miscommunication,” he says. “The priority now is to lower tensions and allow space for a more measured approach.”
Syria and Israel have held several rounds of de-escalation and border discussions since rebel forces under Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s command toppled Assad, but no agreement has been reached.
“An incident of the kind that occurred this morning demonstrates the need to intensify these efforts and expand the process,” Barrack says.
The Times of Israel Community.