Israel strikes targets near Damascus presidential palace in ‘message to Syrian regime’

Israel strikes targets near Damascus presidential palace in ‘message to Syrian regime’

Nurit Yohanan

Emanuel Fabian

Israel conducted airstrikes early on Friday near Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s official residential compound in Damascus in response to violence in Syria against the country’s Druze minority, the Israel Defense Forces said.

“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.

Katz later wrote on X that the strikes were a “clear warning to the Syrian regime. When Jolani (al-Sharaa) wakes up in the morning and sees the results of the Israeli Air Force fighter jets’ strike, he understands that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria.

“It is his duty to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from attacks by jihadist rioters and to enable the hundreds of thousands of Druze in Sweida and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves on their own, and not to send jihadist forces into the villages,” Katz continued. “It is our duty to protect the Druze in Syria from harm, for the sake of our Druze brothers in Israel, their loyalty to the state, and their immense contribution to Israel’s security.”

In a statement, the Syrian presidency condemned the strikes and described them as “a serious escalation against state institutions and its sovereignty.”

Israel, which sees the new forces in Syria as jihadists, also struck near Damascus on Wednesday and has attacked hundreds of military sites in Syria since Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow, saying its military would hit government targets “should the violence against Druze communities continue.”

It has also sent troops into the demilitarized buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

Several Syrian Druze wounded in the recent violence have been brought to Israel for medical treatment.

On Friday, the IDF announced that a further five Syrian Druze, who were apparently wounded during sectarian violence in the country, were evacuated by the Israeli military to a hospital.

They were taken to Ziv Hospital in Safed, where five other wounded Syrian Druze were taken in recent days.

The military said troops were “deployed to southern Syria and prepared to prevent hostile forces from entering the area and Druze villages.”

“The IDF continues to monitor the developments, while maintaining readiness for defense and different scenarios,” the military added.

Friday’s strikes came after several days of clashes between local armed Druze groups and other armed groups, followed by confrontations between the Druze and official Syrian security forces in Druze strongholds across Syria.