Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters as fallout from sectarian violence in Suwayda reaches Damascus.

Published On 16 Jul 2025

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Israel has struck the headquarters of the Syrian Ministry of Defence and close to the presidential palace in the capital Damascus, dramatically escalating on another military front in the region, and following through on its threats to intervene over clashes between government troops and Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda.

Syria’s Interior Ministry announced a ceasefire agreement for Suwayda later on Wednesday. Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou confirmed a truce would take effect immediately. Jarbou said the agreement was “to completely halt all military operations in Suwayda by all parties” and “to fully integrate Suwayda into the Syrian state.”

Footage showed four explosions from Israeli strikes battering the sides of the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus earlier on Wednesday, leading to large plumes of smoke rising in the sky, before another air strike hit close to the presidential palace.

Israel claims it has been carrying out the strikes in Syria to protect Syria’s Druze minority, which Israel views as a potential ally and which has been involved in clashes with Syrian government troops in Suwayda, a Druze stronghold. The community there has not welcomed Israeli intervention in the past.

Syrian state news agency SANA reported that one person was killed, and 28 others were wounded in the strikes, citing the Ministry of Health.

Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr witnessed the attack on the headquarters of the Syrian military, which followed Israeli drone strikes on the complex hours earlier.

“We watched those strikes come in, one after another, in the heart of the Syrian capital,” she said, adding that the sight of Israeli war planes overhead “caused panic”.

“This is a significant escalation,” she said. “This is the Israeli leadership giving a very, very direct message to Syria’s new authorities that they will intensify such strikes … if the government does not withdraw its troops from southern Syria.”

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement posted on X that the “warnings in Damascus have ended – now painful blows will come”. As Israel’s military announced it was beefing up its forces along the Syrian border, and had carried out strikes on Syrian military convoys moving south, he added that Israel’s military would “continue to operate forcefully in Suwayda to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until their complete withdrawal”.

Initial ceasefire collapsed quickly

The strikes followed the resumption of fierce fighting in Suwayda, a major centre for the Druze community, after a ceasefire announced by the Syrian government on Tuesday swiftly collapsed.

Syria’s Defence Ministry officials blamed groups “outside the law” for breaking the ceasefire and attacking government troops, who they said were responding to fire while taking measures to protect civilians. The ministry told Al Jazeera it had opened safe corridors in the city for civilians to flee.

Speaking from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Bin Javaid said at least 70 people were believed to have been killed in the fighting so far. Medical sources in the city say more than 200 people have been injured in the violence.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in the United Kingdom, says more than 250 people had been killed as of Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces. The observatory added that at least 21 people were killed in “field executions”.

One woman, 20-year-old Evelyn Azzam, told the Associated Press news agency from her home in Jaramana, near Damascus, that she feared her husband had been killed by security forces in Suwayda.

She had been speaking to her husband, Robert Kiwan, on the phone when he was questioned by security forces about whether he was affiliated with Druze militias, when her husband was shot in the hip, she said. She had had no update on his condition since he was taken to hospital.

Chaos at the border

The bloodshed has led to chaotic scenes along the border separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. Large numbers of Israeli Druze gathered there, with some crossing into Syria to support Druze groups there, while hundreds gathered on the other side of the fence, calling on Israel and the international community to intervene and stop the violence.

The Israeli military said it had identified dozens of individuals trying to cross from Syria, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed directly to Israel’s Druze community not to cross the border.

“You can be kidnapped, and you hurt the [Israeli army’s] efforts,” said Netanyahu. “So I ask you – go back to your homes, let the [army] act.”

Israeli air attacks continue

On top of the clashes on the ground, Israel has pounded targets in Syria. Israeli warplanes have struck nearly 160 targets in Syria since Tuesday night, most of them in Suwayda, the Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported.

Al Jazeera’s Khodr said Israel’s demands for Syrian troops to withdraw and create a demilitarised area in the south presented Syria’s leadership with a dilemma.

“If it continues its advance in Suwayda and maintains a presence in the province, then it will trigger more strikes like this and endanger its hold on power,” she said.

“But if it decides to withdraw from Suwayda and give in to Israel’s demands, then the government has failed in its efforts to extend its authority across the country.”

Syria has condemned Israel’s intervention as a violation of international law, as have several Arab nations. Israel has also been attacking other areas of Syria regularly since longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad was deposed in December, claiming it is targeting weapons sites. The Israeli government has dismissed the fledgling Syrian government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa as “extremists”.

The United States has revoked its designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – the group that formed the new government – as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) as Washington softens its approach to post-war Syria. The decision earlier this month is part of US President Donald Trump’s broader strategy to re-engage with Syria and support its reconstruction after more than a decade of conflict.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says his country is “very concerned” about the Israeli attacks on Damascus, and “We’re going to be working on that issue as we speak.” Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, says his comments suggest the US was caught off guard by the Israeli bombardment, especially given the moves the administration has made to bring Syria back into the international fold.

Footage of abuses prompting violence

The outbreak of violence in the southern city on Sunday was triggered by a wave of recent kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed groups, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.

Syria’s Druze population numbers about 700,000, with Suwayda home to the sect’s largest community. Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting.

Al Jazeera’s Bin Javaid said tensions in the latest outbreak of violence had been inflamed by material about killings and abuses being posted on social media. “That created a flurry of reaction …  from both sides,” he said.

Since the overthrow of al-Assad, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.

Samy Akil, a political analyst and academic specialising in Syrian affairs, told Al Jazeera that the Syrian government’s failure to deliver on an inclusive political model played a large role in the unrest.

“It has not been able to … back the talk basically with tangible evidence on the ground, particularly when it comes to an inclusive … governing system that incorporates a clear power-sharing structure where all segments of Syrian society are represented,” Akil said.

Clashes between government troops and Druze fighters in April and May killed dozens, with local leaders and religious figures signing agreements to contain the escalation and better integrate Druze fighters into the new government.

The Druze developed their own militias during the nearly 14-year ruinous civil war. Since al-Assad’s fall, Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.

Rob Geist Pinfold, lecturer in international security at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that Israel had been working closely with an influential Druze sheikh, Hikmat al-Hijri, who has been a key player in the escalation of the situation in Suwayda following the initial abduction on Friday.

“It was his forces that took government buildings … within Suwayda and it was then that Israel chose to act to defend him from Syrian security services,” said Pinfold.

Israel’s response to the situation showed it had not taken the opportunity for a reset with Syria’s new government and to work towards a stabilisation of relations, he added.

Instead, by launching attacks, Pinfold said, Israel had opted to continue with the status quo: “Its pursuit of military hegemony and extended occupation of Syrian territory”.