What we know about Israeli strikes in Syria

Since Monday, Israel has bombed several targets belonging to the regime of Ahmad al-Sharaa, claiming to defend the Druze minority involved in deadly clashes in the Sweida region in southern Syria.

Technically in a state of war with its Syrian neighbor, Israel said it would not allow a military presence in southern Syria, near its border, after the deployment Tuesday of government forces in the city of Sweida.

Israeli leaders announced they would intensify strikes in Syria if Syrian forces did not withdraw from the south of the country.

What is known about the Israeli strikes in Syria is the following.

Presidential palace, army headquarters

On Wednesday, the Israeli army said it struck a "military target" in the area of the presidential palace in Damascus.

Witnesses told AFP they heard an explosion in the presidential palace area of Damascus and then saw smoke rising from the area.

Earlier, official Syrian television reported new Israeli strikes on the army headquarters in central Damascus, where a wing of the four-story building was destroyed. The Syrian Health Ministry reported one dead and 18 wounded.

Television footage showed soldiers hastily leaving the building, adjacent to the Defense Ministry.

In the morning, the Israeli army announced a strike on the entrance to the same headquarters.

Strikes in Sweida

On Wednesday, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported an Israeli drone strike on the predominantly Druze city of Sweida.

The day before, the Israeli army announced it had bombed "regime forces' military vehicles in Sweida." 

On Monday, it struck several government tanks in the region near the city.

The province of Sweida is home to the country's largest Druze community, an esoteric minority derived from Islam, spread across Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 300 people have been killed since Sunday in clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, which were later joined by government forces.

'Painful blows'

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz demanded Wednesday that the Syrian regime "leave the Druze of Sweida alone" and withdraw its forces from the city.

"Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the policy of demilitarization" in the south of the country, he warned, before threatening the Syrian regime with "painful blows."

Beyond defending the Druze, Israel wants "to prevent the threat of a military presence in southern Syria, near its border," a military official said. 

Syria on Tuesday condemned the "treacherous Israeli aggression" and asserted its right "to defend its territory."

Context

Although it has established contacts with the Syrian authorities from the Islamist movement that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel still treats them with mistrust. 

Since December, it has carried out hundreds of strikes against military sites in Syria, claiming it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the regime.

After Assad's fall, Israel sent its troops into the demilitarized buffer zone on the Syrian Golan Heights, bordering the part of the plateau it has occupied since 1967. The Israeli army has also deployed in positions in southern Syria.

Through figures from this community residing in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's government has multiplied overtures toward Syrian Druze.

In Israel, about 153,000 Druze are Israeli citizens. Unlike other Israeli Arabs, Druze are subject to compulsory military service.

US, EU, UAE

The United States is "very concerned" about the Israeli strikes in Syria, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

The European Union called for "respect" for Syrian sovereignty "in light of the increasing number of Israeli strikes."

The United Arab Emirates "strongly" condemned the Israeli strikes.