Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters, IDF says
LONDON -- The Israel Defense Forces said it struck "the entrance" of Syria's military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday. At least one person was killed and 18 others were injured Wednesday in the Israeli airstrikes on the capital, Damascus, Syria's Ministry of Health told the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. The high-profile strike came amid a wave of sectarian violence in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, where the Druze population has clashed with local Bedouin Sunni tribes and the recently installed Syrian government, headed by interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa who toppled former President Bashar Al-Assad in December. The Druze are an offshoot of a branch of Shiite Islam. Around 1 million Druze are spread across Syria, Israel and Lebanon. The majority live in Syria, concentrated in the south of the country. "The IDF continues to monitor developments and the regime's actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria," the IDF said in a statement. "In accordance with directives from the political echelon, the IDF is striking in the area and remains prepared for various scenarios." In several strikes on the Syrian capital, Israel has intervened in a clash between the government and the ethnic minority in the fragile country that has already seen dozens killed. The crisis began last week after Syria's new rebel-led government moved to try to restore order amid deadly clashes in the southern Sweida region. Since the fall of the Assad regime, the Druze have had tense relations with the new Syrian government. A sizable population of Druze also live in Israeli-occupied territory. Israel warned Syria's government not to send troops into the Druze area, and then bombed Syrian troops as they tried to move there to enforce a curfew. On Wednesday, Israel escalated the situation again, heavily bombing Syria's Ministry of Defense and striking near the presidential palace, in what appears to be a message to the Syrian government to pull back from the Druze areas. MORE: From al-Qaeda to Syria's presidency, the rise of Ahmad al-Sharaa Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X, "The warnings in Damascus have ended -- now painful blows will come." "The IDF will continue to operate forcefully in Sweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until their complete withdrawal," Katz added. Meanwhile, hundreds of Druze from Israeli-held territory broke down border fences and moved into Syria to join the Druze protesting there. The crisis underlines fears that Syria is still struggling to stabilize following the toppling of the Assad regime late last year, with fears that ethnic tensions could still tear it apart. It also dramatically undercuts the nascent efforts by the new Syrian state recently to normalize relations with Israel. It also complicates President Donald Trump's approach to Syria, just weeks after he recognized the new government, easing some sanctions and met with the former Islamist rebel who now leads it, al-Sharaa, previously designated as a terrorist by the U.S. Israel has been demanding no Syrian military presence in the southern region near the Israeli-occupied-Golan Heights, and following the fall of Assad significantly expanded the area the IDF controls, saying it was creating a buffer zone. One Druze leader announced they have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government, saying they agree to halt military operations in Sweida and for the region to be full integrated into Syria. But it's unclear still if it will hold -- another ceasefire announced Tuesday quickly fell apart. Another Druze leader has reportedly already rejected it. The Syrian government said the ceasefire agreement includes the deployment of internal security and state-affiliated police checkpoints within Sweida, and its full integration into the Syrian state. More than 250 people have been killed in Sweida province as of Wednesday morning since the violence erupted on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitoring group. Those deaths included 21 people who were killed in "field executions" by local groups in Sweida, the organization said. Syrian government forces were deployed to the Sweida region -- home to the largest population of the Druze religious minority in Syria -- on Monday in an effort to restore order but ultimately clashed with the Druze militias themselves. On Tuesday, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a ceasefire agreement in Sweida, saying government forces would "respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups." But clashes continued. As that sectarian violence has grown, the Israeli military has taken action against the Syrian government, the IDF said. Over the past day, the IDF has struck and continues to strike tanks, rocket launchers, weapons and pickup trucks loaded with heavy machine guns on their way to the As Suwayda area in southern Syria," the IDF said in a statement Wednesday, using another common spelling for Sweida. The IDF said it has "decided to reinforce its forces in the area of the Syrian border" and "will continue to operate, both in defense and offense, to ensure the security of Israeli civilians." The IDF's two main goals are to prevent a buildup of a threat on border in southern Syria and to prevent the massacre of the Druze in Syria, according to an Israeli military official. The official said Israel is sending more troops to the occupied Golan Heights and the border, with at least one brigade shifting from Gaza to the north. The office of Syria's interim president said in a statement Wednesday that it "has followed with great concern the unfortunate violations that have recently occurred in some areas of Sweida Governorate." "These acts, which fall within the category of criminal and illegal behavior, are unacceptable under any circumstances and completely contradict the principles upon which the Syrian state is based," the presidency added. "We, in the Syrian government, strongly condemn these shameful acts and affirm our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and holding accountable all those proven to be involved." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also urged Israeli Druze groups not to cross into Syria to join the fighting. "We are working to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the regime's gangs," he said in a statement posted to X on Wednesday. Addressing those crossing the border or attempting to, Netanyahu added: "You are citizens of Israel. Do not cross the border. You are risking your lives; you could be murdered, you could be kidnapped, and you are harming the efforts of the IDF. Therefore, I ask you -- return to your homes, let the IDF act." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he is "very concerned" about what is happening in Syria, adding, "We want the fighting to stop," at an event Wednesday morning. "We are very worried about the violence in southern Syria. It is a direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Syria. We have been and remain in repeated and constant talks with the governments of Syria and Israel on this matter."
Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters, IDF says LONDON -- The Israel Defense Forces said it struck "the entrance" of Syria...
