Israeli Air Force jets bombed the Syrian defense ministry and presidential palace in Damascus on Wednesday. The airstrikes on two key government buildings in the capital mark a massive escalation in the growing dispute between Israel and Syria over the status of the Druze community in the southern part of the country.
Over the past two days, Israel has been attacking forces in that region aligned with the Syrian government in an attempt to protect the Druze. They are an Arab sect of about one million people living in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, where they make up a small but influential minority. Israel sees them as a potential ally as it works to create a buffer zone in that part of Syria. The Druze say Syrian forces have been attacking civilians in their community in the south of that country.
All this comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has been seeking to foster better relations between Israel and the new government of Syria.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “struck the entrance of the Syrian regime’s military headquarters in the area of Damascus in Syria,” the IDF stated on Telegram. “The IDF continues to monitor developments and the regime’s actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria. In accordance with directives from the political echelon, the IDF is striking in the area and remains prepared for various scenarios.”
“The military headquarters in Damascus is the location from which Syrian regime commanders direct combat operations and deploy regime forces to the As-Suwayda area,” the IDF explained. “Additionally, a military target in the area of the Syrian regime’s presidential palace in Damascus was struck.”
The Israeli strikes on Damascus were captured on video and still images, showing the attacks and their aftermath.
So far, at least three people have been killed and more than 30 wounded in the airstrikes on Damascus, according to Syria’s Health Ministry. “Significant structural damage was inflicted on the compound,” Syria’s Defense Ministry stated.
The Syrian government condemned the Israeli airstrikes on Damascus “as a blatant violation of national sovereignty and international law.”
The airstrikes were “a warning and a message to the new regime and its army,” a senior IDF official told The War Zone. “Stop immediately the attacks on our Druze brothers, or else Israel will escalate to more intense strikes against the new regime and its forces.”
“Following yesterday’s strikes on Syrian regime forces, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned al-Shara this morning, in no uncertain terms, that ‘the Syrian regime must leave the Druze in Sweida alone and withdraw its forces,’” according to Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel’s N12News.
The Israeli airstrikes also spurred protests by the Druze population in Damascus demanding an end to government attacks in the south.
The Trump administration is “very concerned” by the fighting in Syria between various ethnic groups that has also led to Israeli strikes against Syrian government forces, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Washington Wednesday morning.
“We want the fighting to stop,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. is in touch with all relevant parties in order to bring the conflict to an end. “Hopefully, we’ll have some updates later today.”
Yesterday, the Trump administration asked Israel to stop attacking Syrian forces, according to a post on X by Axios reporter Barak Ravid. A U.S. official also said that Syria claimed it told Israel in advance about the movement of tanks to southern Syria as part of an effort to quell the internal clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes. That fighting eventually drew in both Israeli and Syrian forces. However, there are claims that Israel is using this conflict as a pretext to expand its presence in Syria.
The Israeli support for the Druze ramped up amid reports of killings, torture and rapes by forces affiliated with the Syrian government. President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday condemned those actions.
Meanwhile, ground battles are still raging in the southern Syrian region of As Suwayda. The IDF is carrying out attacks against Syrian government forces in support of the Druze, who make up a majority in this region.
“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 stated. A day earlier, the Israeli Air Force struck Syrian government tanks and armor attempting to enter As Suwayda.
Israel is also reinforcing its border with Syria.
“Ongoing situational assessments are being conducted to determine the necessary force deployments required to complete operational missions in various arenas,” the IDF stated on Telegram. “The IDF will continue to operate, both in defense and offense, to ensure the security of Israeli civilians.”
The senior IDF official provided The War Zone with some context about Israeli support for the Druze.
“My personal opinion is if Israel abandons the Druze in Syria, it will create a rift that cannot be healed between our Druze brothers in Israel and the Israeli people and government,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the current operations. “This time they will not remain silent. It could escalate into riots and possibly even civil war within our own borders. It’s that serious.”
Druze, he added, serve in the IDF, “including in the most senior officer positions.”
The official noted that “already, thousands of Druze are gathering at the border fences, trying to cross into Syria to help their slaughtered brethren in Sweida because they can no longer wait for the Israeli government to act. For them, this is their ‘October 7th’ moment in Syria.”
The official was referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the latest round of regional warfare.
The presence of so many Druze pushing into southern Syria is creating turmoil in northern Israel, the IDF stated.
“A short while ago, IDF troops identified dozens of suspects attempting to infiltrate Israeli territory from the area of Hader in Syria,” the IDF claimed on Telegram. “IDF and Israeli Border Police forces are operating to prevent the infiltration and disperse the gathering.
“Simultaneously, several Israeli civilians crossed the border fence into Syrian territory in the area of Majdal Shams,” the IDF continued. “IDF troops are currently operating to safely return the civilians who crossed the border. The IDF emphasizes that this is a serious incident constituting a criminal offense and endangers the public and IDF troops.”
The fighting between Israel and Syria comes just days after a rare appearance in the Israeli parliament by Syrian political activist Shadi Martini, who shared a message of peace he said came directly from al-Sharaa.
“We have an opportunity like this only once in a hundred years,” Martini quoted al-Sharaa as saying in a recent meeting held in the presidential palace. “The window will not remain open forever.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Martini, the CEO of Multifaith Alliance and longtime advocate for humanitarian cooperation between Syrians and Israelis, “said the conversation with al-Sharaa focused on potential normalization and regional security – but also revealed points of friction.”
He also confirmed that al-Sharaa knew his message might be conveyed in Israel. “It wasn’t off the record. It was honest and accurate – and the message was, ‘Act now.’”
“We talked a lot about Israel,” Martini said of the Damascus meeting, which occurred just after Eid al-Adha in June and days before renewed Israeli airstrikes inside Syria. “There was a lot of concern about Israeli incursions in Syrian territory. And the president made clear – how can we talk about a peace deal while that continues?”
The increasing fighting between Israel and Syria is a blow to Trump’s efforts to foster peace between the two nations and reduce regional tensions.
As part of that effort, Trump last month lifted sanctions imposed on Syria “in response to the Assad regime’s brutal actions against the Syrian people and their direct support for terrorism in the region.”
The Assad regime was overthrown in December during a rapid and surprise coup by the former al-Qaeda rebel group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). That campaign was led by al-Sharaa.
In May, Trump said he asked al-Sharaa to fully normalize relations with Israel in exchange for sanctions relief.
“In a readout of the pivotal…meeting for Syria, Trump encouraged al-Sharaa to sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel, tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria, deport ‘Palestinian terrorists,’ help the U.S. prevent the resurgence of ISIS and assume charge of ISIS detention centers in northeast Syria,” Fox News reported at the time.
The Abraham Accords are a series of diplomatic agreements between Israel and some Arab nations that Trump began during his first term.
Though there are intense negotiations underway to stop the fighting between Israel and Syria as well as between Syrian forces and the Druze, the senior IDF official we spoke with said he is concerned this conflict could spiral.
“From what I understand, there are now intensive talks with al-Sharaa himself to immediately stop this massacre,” the senior IDF official explained. “But in the Arab world there is a concept of ‘blood revenge’, so even if it stops, the Druze will not simply move on from this horrific massacre and the humiliation they’ve suffered. It could spark a massive escalation.”
Author’s note: This story was updated with additional information from Israel about why it struck targets in Damascus.
Update 6:46 PM Eastern –
U.S. intelligence “does not show any involvement of the Syrian government in atrocities in Suwayda,” Axios reported, citing a U.S. official.
The U.S. official added that “Israel’s actions are influenced by domestic political pressure from the Druze community in Israel — which comprises around 2% of the population — on the Netanyahu government,” Axios added. That assessment confirms what a senior IDF official told The War Zone earlier on Wednesday about the influence of the Druze on Israeli decisions.
Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority “announced a renewed ceasefire Wednesday after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and drawn military intervention by powerful neighbor Israel,” The Associated Press reported.
Convoys of government forces “began withdrawing from the city of Sweida, but it was not immediately clear if the agreement, announced by Syria’s Interior Ministry and in a video message by a Druze religious leader, would hold,” the wire service added. “A previous ceasefire announced Tuesday quickly fell apart, and a prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, disavowed the new agreement.”
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes continued after the ceasefire announcement, AP stated.
Though Israel claimed it was acting on behalf of the Druze, another one of the community’s prominent leaders disavowed that contention.
“These calls for intervention are political maneuvers exploiting the south Syria issue,” Laith al-Balous told Al Jazeera.
He added that the Druze don’t need Israeli protection and reaffirmed his support for the Syrian government.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com