Damascus - Israeli warplanes struck Aleppo airport on Tuesday, causing significant damage that halted flights to and from Syria's war- and quake-battered second city, the defence ministry said.
The airport has been a major conduit for aid flights since a February 6 earthquake devastated swathes of south-eastern Türkiye and neighbouring Syria, and they too were brought to a stop, a transport ministry official said.
"At exactly 2.07am, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the Mediterranean west of Latakia targeting Aleppo international airport," the defence ministry said in a statement.
The damage forced the authorities to close the airport to all flights, the ministry added. There was no immediate word on any casualties.
More than 80 aid flights have landed in Aleppo over the past month with relief supplies for quake-hit areas, transport ministry official Suleiman Khalil told AFP.
Foreign donors including the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Algeria have flown aid into Aleppo airport since the earthquake, Syrian state media has reported.
The Syrian foreign ministry, in a statement, condemned the attack as a "double crime", saying it had hit a civilian airport and "one of the primary channels for delivering humanitarian assistance" to people affected by the earthquake.
The earthquake killed 1,414 deaths in government-held parts of the country, the government has said.
More than 4,500 were reported killed by the earthquake in parts of Syria under rebel control in the north-west, the UNOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said.
"It is no longer possible to receive aid flights until the damage has been repaired," he said, adding that the strike had put the runway out of service.
Aid deliveries have been diverted to Damascus and Latakia airports, a ministry statement said.
An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on the reported strike.
It marked the second Israeli attack on government-held areas since the devastating quake struck Türkiye and Syria, killing more than 50,000 people in the two countries.
On February 19, an Israeli strike killed 15 people in a Damascus district housing state security agencies.
Damascus ally Iran condemned the strike, calling it a "crime against humanity".
"While the Syrian earthquake victims in Aleppo are experiencing difficult conditions, the Zionist regime (Israel) is attacking Aleppo airport," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
Israel has attacked Aleppo airport several times in recent years, with a strike last September putting it out of service for a few days.
Since civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against its neighbour, primarily targeting positions of the Syrian army and its Iranian and Hezbollah allies.
The Israeli military rarely comments on individual strikes against Syria, but has vowed repeatedly to keep up its air campaign to stop arch foe Iran consolidating its presence.
Israel has previously said its air strikes in Syria have slowed down Iran's entrenchment in the country, where Tehran has supported pro-Assad groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The attack overnight was Israel's third air strike in Syria this year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Last year, Israel carried out more than 30 air strikes in Syria,the Observatory said.
In January, the Syrian army said an Israeli missile attackbriefly put Damascus airport out of service.
Damascus airport was also struck last year, making it impossible for the United Nations to fly in aid deliveries to needy Syrians for around two weeks, the UN's commission of inquiry said at the time.
AFP and REUTERS