Israel strikes Damascus as fighting rages in southern Syria

Heavy airstrikes rocked Damascus on Wednesday, targeting the Defense Ministry, as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded their withdrawal.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the powerful strikes that occurred in mid-afternoon, which Syrian state media said were carried out by Israeli forces.

The Israeli military had earlier announced an attack on the entrance to the Defense Ministry complex. Just before the powerful explosions, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that "painful blows would follow."

Dozens of people have been killed this week in violence around the southern city of Suwayda, where Druze fighters clash with government security forces and Bedouin tribesmen, prompting Israel to intervene repeatedly to protect the Druze.

The violence highlighted the major challenges facing interim President Ahmed al-Shara, despite improving relations with the United States, as he tries to reunite Syria in the face of deep distrust from groups that reject Islamist rule.

Syrian government troops were sent to the Suwayda region on Monday to calm clashes between Druze fighters and armed Bedouins, but ended up clashing with Druze militias.

The Druze are followers of a religion that is a branch of Islam, and they live in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

Earlier, security sources at the Syrian Defense Ministry told Reuters that at least two drones had hit the building and that officers had taken shelter in the basement. State-run Elekhbariya TV reported that two civilians were wounded in the attack.

The Israeli military said it had "hit the entrance gate of the Syrian regime's military headquarters complex" in Damascus. It also continued to strike "Syrian regime" targets in southern Syria, including tanks and trucks with machine guns moving towards Suwayda.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that 169 people had been killed in the violence this week. Security sources put the figure at 300.

Israel, which regularly bombed Syria under ousted President Bashar al-Assad, is demanding that the new Islamist authorities keep their forces out of southern Syria. They have promised to protect the Druze and have sent Israeli troops into Syrian territory adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

US envoy for Syria Tom Barak, who praised the new Syrian authorities and said in May that peace between Syria and Israel was possible, said on Tuesday that Washington was in contact with all sides "to achieve peace and integration."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned Israel's targeting of "government institutions and civilian facilities" in Damascus, as well as in Suwayda, following airstrikes on July 16.

After Israeli strikes hit the Defense Ministry building in Damascus, as well as the area around the presidential palace, the ministry said several civilians were killed and dozens wounded.

It also states that "great damage was caused to infrastructure and public services."

The ministry accuses Israel of a "blatant attack" as part of a "deliberate policy" aimed at "inflaming tensions, spreading chaos and undermining security and stability in Syria."

"Syria holds Israel fully responsible for this dangerous escalation and its consequences," the statement added.