(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces said it struck “the entrance” of Syria‘s military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday.
Syria’s Ministry of Health told the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency that at least one person was killed and 18 others were injured Wednesday in the Israeli airstrikes on the capital, Damascus.
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 a post to X, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: “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.
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 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.”
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