Updated July 16, 2025 at 1:28 PM CDT
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military launched airstrikes at Syria's capital of Damascus on Wednesday, saying it was targeting the country's military command.
The strikes damaged the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters. Israel's military said it also hit a military target near the Syrian presidential palace.
Syria's Health Ministry said three people were killed and 34 wounded in the Israeli strikes in Damascus.
Israel said it was intervening to defend the minority Druze sect in southwest Syria, whose community straddles the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Syrian government forces had joined Bedouin militias in clashes with Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida.
Soon after the strikes in Damascus, Syria's Interior Ministry and Druze leaders announced a renewed ceasefire agreement, but it was not immediately clear if the violence would end.
Syria's Defense Ministry had blamed Druze militias in Sweida for violating a previous ceasefire that had been reached Tuesday, saying this caused Syrian government soldiers to return fire. The office of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa published a statement assuring residents in Sweida that their "rights will always be protected and that we will not allow any party to tamper with their security or stability."
The fighting comes at a delicate time. The United States in May lifted most of its sanctions on Syria and has had warming relations with the Sharaa government. The U.S. has also worked on diplomatic efforts to improve ties between its close ally Israel and Syria.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the administration was "very worried about the violence in southern Syria" and remained in "constant talks" with officials from Israel and Syria. He later said that, within hours "we hope to see some real progress" toward de-escalating the violence.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel's strikes in Damascus, as well as in Sweida and the Syrian city Daraa.
Hundreds killed in southern Syria
Since Islamist militias forced authoritarian Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power last year, the country's new leaders have struggled to consolidate control. Even as Sharaa has repeatedly called for calm, sectarian revenge attacks by primarily Sunni Muslim groups against minorities in the country have been widespread. Hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority — the same sect as the Assad family — have been killed.
The clashes in Sweida followed back and forth kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions, that quickly flared into widespread clashes across villages and towns in the area, that saw neighborhoods shelled and homes set on fire. Syrian government forces who intervened to try to restore calm then clashed with the Druze. Amid communications blackouts to the area, many Druze people outside of Sweida panicked about the fate of their families.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a conflict and rights monitor based in the United Kingdom, said 260 people had been killed in the area as of Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces.
During the fighting, Israel launched airstrikes targeting government troops and convoys. In Israel, men from the Druze community are conscripted into the military, with some occupying high ranks in the Israeli army.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday night that Israel has "a commitment to preserve the southwestern region of Syria as a demilitarized area on Israel's border" and has "an obligation to safeguard the Druze locals."
In the aftermath of the fall of Syria's Assad regime, Israel repeatedly struck military targets in Syria, destroying key military infrastructure. Israel has said it doesn't want Islamist militias close to its borders.
Greg Dixon, Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Daniel Estrin reported from Tel Aviv. Jawad Rizkallah reported from Beirut. Michele Kelemen contributed reporting from Washington, D.C., and Ahmed Abuhamda contributed from Cairo.
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