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The Israeli armed forces conducted two airstrikes against Syria’s Defence Ministry in Damascus on Wednesday, leveling sections of the building and killing one individual and injuring 18 others, Syrian officials said. The attack, Israel’s first in the Syrian capital since May, was intended to send a message to President Ahmed al-Sharaa regarding the violence building in southern Syria.
The attack came as fighting intensified between Syrian government troops, Druze militias, and Arab Bedouin tribes in Suweida province, killing more than 250 people over four days the bloodiest fighting in months. The Israeli army, which also attacked Syrian tanks and launched drone strikes that killed a number of soldiers earlier this week, said it would not accept Syrian military deployment in the south and vowed to protect the Druze minority. But most Druze reject Israeli involvement, fearing to be branded as an agent of a foreign power.
As yet, despite Wednesday’s announcement of a ceasefire by the Syrian government and one leading analyst among the Druze clerics, animosities run high. Another prominent analyst among the Druze clerics, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, ignored the truce, promising continued resistance and branding the government as “armed gangs.” A similar earlier declared ceasefire on Tuesday had failed under identical conditions.
Violence broke out after a Bedouin tribe is said to have stolen from a Druze man, leading to retaliatory fighting. Syrian troops moved into Suweida to restore order, but later accusations of human rights abuses followed. Militiamen in military attire stormed a Radwan family reception hall and killed a minimum of 15, it was reported. Relatives of the victims and hospital officials attested to the brutality and alleged that security forces deliberately hindered aid reaching the wounded.
Video on social media also showed Syrian government troops mocking Druze religious symbols and issuing sectarian threats. The Syrian defense and interior ministries decried the violence but maintained that the state should reclaim authority over Suweida. Witnesses, though, explained that they could not tell the difference between government troops and militia combatants because of the anarchy.
The incident has drawn unusual responses from the international community. US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack demanded accountability and a stop to the violence. In the meantime, Druze in the occupied Golan Heights tried to cross into Syria, which led the Israeli military to strengthen security on the frontier. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned against further crossings in terms of safety threats.
Tensions risk undoing recent indications of rapprochement between Syria and Israel, where resumed hostility and persistent Israeli occupation in the south have fanned long-smoldering differences within the region.
