Israel sent a message to Syria President Bashar al-Assad that his palace may be its next target if Syria continues to cooperate with Iran and allow the transfer of weapons into the country, the London-based Arabic news outlet Elaph reported on Monday evening.

“Elaph learned from a senior source that Israel sent a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, warning him against continuing to cover up Iran’s operations and the transfer of advanced weapons into the country, and informing him that one of his palaces would be a target in the next raid carried out by Israeli fighters in Syria,” the report stated.

The report follows the attack last week on the Damascus Airport that was intended to block the Iranian smuggling of terror-related weapons into Syria via civilian flights.

The attack shut completely shut down operations at the country’s main airport, suspending flights.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry slammed Israel following the attack on the airport, calling it “a vicious practice of attacks on civilian infrastructure,” and “a violation of international law.”

Elaph quoted an Israeli source as saying that ties between Israel and Russia have deteriorated since the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.

One of the manifestations of the deterioration of ties is that Russia has begun to allow Iranian operatives to move toward southern Syria, in violation of an agreement between Russia and Israel to maintain an 80-kilometer (50 mile) buffer zone along the Syrian-Israeli border.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)