Israel carried out deadly air strikes on the Syrian capital on Wednesday, including on the country’s defence ministry headquarters and near the presidential palace, in a significant escalation of its bombing campaign in the neighbouring country.
The strikes on the defence ministry compound, next to a busy public square in central Damascus, killed at least three people and injured 34, Syrian officials said. Strikes continued in other areas throughout the evening.
The Israeli military also carried out strikes in southern Syria, where violence between Druze militants, Bedouin tribes and Syrian security forces raged for a fourth day. Local officials say about 50 people have been killed in the clashes so far.
Israel cast its escalatory strikes as an effort to protect Syria’s Druze minority, and has demanded the Syrian government withdraw its forces from Sweida, where the sectarian violence has been concentrated.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington was “very concerned” about the violence.
“Obviously, these are historic, longtime rivalries between different groups in the south-west of Syria — Bedouins, the Druze community — and it led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and Syrian side,” he said.
He later posted on X: “We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight. This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do.”
Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the “treacherous Israeli aggression” in Damascus and Sweida, which killed several civilians, injured dozens and “caused extensive damage to infrastructure and public services”.
“Syria holds Israel fully responsible for this dangerous escalation and its consequences, and affirms that it retains its legitimate rights to defend its land and people,” the ministry added.
“The [Israeli military] will continue to operate vigorously in Sweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until they withdraw completely,” defence minister Israel Katz said after the strikes in Damascus.
Turkish and Arab officials have repeatedly criticised Israel’s interventions, saying they undermine efforts to stabilise a country home to multiple sects and riven by deep divisions after 14 ruinous years of civil war.
Syrian government troops were dispatched to Sweida on Monday to quell fighting between Druze forces and Bedouin armed men, who have a long history of animosity. However, they ended up clashing with the Druze themselves.
Activists described scenes of carnage in Sweida city, with both government forces and Druze militias accused of killings and rights violations.
The country’s interior ministry said dozens of bodies — of both civilians and members of the security forces — had been found in the city’s main hospital.
Syria’s interior ministry on Wednesday evening announced a ceasefire agreement for Sweida. But it was not clear whether the deal, co-signed by a senior Druze religious leader in a video message, would hold.
A prominent Druze figure considered closest to Israel, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, disavowed the new agreement.
The office of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led a rebel offensive that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad last year, acknowledged “unfortunate violations” in Sweida, which it described as “criminal and illegal”. It promised an investigation to hold accountable those “proven to be involved”.
Sharaa’s rule has been marred by multiple outbreaks of sectarian killing. The current surge in violence comes as Sharaa’s transitional government struggles to establish control over the whole of Syria.
Sharaa has also had to contend with repeated interventions from an emboldened Israel, which has exploited the security vacuum in its northern neighbour to seize territory along the border and launch waves of air strikes targeting military infrastructure.
Sharaa’s government, which has said it does not want conflict with its neighbours, had been holding talks with Israel to ease tensions before the latest outbreak of violence.
Druze leaders in Israel — which is also home to a Druze community — have called for Israel to carry out “air strikes that will thwart the murderous forces operating in southern Syria”.
They have also called on members of the community to “prepare with all the necessary means to cross the border, in order to help their brothers who are being slaughtered in Syria”.
The calls have been echoed by Hijri. He called for “international protection” for his community, and asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for help.
Hijri’s views, however, do not represent most of Sweida’s Druze community, which is divided over whether to integrate with the new government dominated by members of Sharaa’s Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Sharaa has repeatedly said his government would protect minority rights, while his efforts to rebuild the country have been backed by Arab and western states.
But Druze concerns about the new government were exacerbated after deadly clashes between government forces and Druze militias in April.
Additional reporting by Steff Chávez and Abigail Hauslohner in Washington
