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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the day spoke to both parties and said the strikes were a cause for concern.
The Donald Trump administration has asked Israel to halt its strikes on Syrian military targets in southern Syria, Axios reported on Tuesday, quoting a US official.
According to the report, Israel informed the US it would stop the attacks by Tuesday evening, Axios journalist Barak Ravid said in a post on X.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the day spoke to both parties and said the strikes were a cause for concern, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
“We’re going to be working on that issue as we speak. I just got off the phone with the relevant parties. We’re very concerned about it, and hopefully we’ll have some updates later today. But we’re very concerned about it," Rubio was quoted as saying by the news agency, adding that the US wants fighting to stop as clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters broke out hours after a ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli military conducted rare airstrikes on Wednesday in the heart of Damascus, targeting the Syrian Defence Ministry headquarters. This attack follows a drone strike on the same building hours earlier. Syrian state media reported at least 13 people injured. Another strike occurred near the presidential palace in the hills outside Damascus, according to an Associated Press report.
The rising violence poses a significant threat to Syria’s new rulers, who are attempting to consolidate control after a rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted the longtime despotic leader Bashar al-Assad in December, ending nearly 14 years of civil war.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated after the airstrike on X that the “painful blows have begun." An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously per regulations, said the army is preparing for a “multitude of scenarios" and that a brigade, typically comprising thousands of soldiers, is being redeployed from Gaza to the Golan Heights.
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- First Published:
July 16, 2025, 19:53 IST
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