Israel bombs Syrian government buildings in Damascus
Powerful Israeli air strikes hit Damascus on Wednesday, targeting the Syrian defence ministry, military headquarters and the vicinity of the presidential palace.
Footage broadcast on local TV channels showed an explosion in central Damascus, with huge plumes of smoke enveloping the area around Umayyad Square.
The Syrian state news agency Sana said, citing the country's health ministry, that one person was killed and 18 others wounded in the attacks.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted footage of the bombing on X, writing: "heavy blows have started".
Sana also said Israel struck targets in the southwestern province of Daraa.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
"Starting at 9:30am Tuesday, Israeli aircraft began flying over Daraa and Sweida provinces, conducting several manoeuvres in Syrian airspace before striking the town of Izraa in rural Daraa and launching another air strike near the town of al-Mazraa in the Sweida countryside," Abu Amin, a military observer in Syria, told Middle East Eye using a nickname.
Israel carried out heavy strikes on central Damascus on Wednesday, targeting Syria's military headquarters and defence ministry.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 16, 2025
Large plumes of smoke were seen billowing above as Israeli drones circle overhead. It is the latest of Israel's ongoing campaign of attacks on Syria. pic.twitter.com/2ehtQLkmkB
Abu Amin said that in the afternoon, Israeli drones had targeted several vehicles belonging to Syria's General Security Service, followed by strikes on three tanks operated by the Syrian defence ministry.
"F-35 jets carried out multiple air strikes on the 112th Brigade and the 175th Regiment of the Syrian Ministry of Defence in the Izraa region of Daraa, resulting in casualties and injuries among Syrian army personnel," he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 10 members of the government's security forces were killed in Israeli strikes in the area.
Deadly clashes
The strikes follow clashes that erupted on Sunday between Syrian government forces and members of the Druze minority in Sweida, a predominantly Druze province in southern Syria.
More than 300 people have been killed since the violence began, including government troops, local fighters, and 27 Druze civilians who were reportedly executed without trial by members of the defence and interior ministries.
Since the new government, led by former rebel Ahmed al-Sharaa, took power in December, Israel has repeatedly struck Syrian military targets, sometimes in response to tensions with the Druze community, which it claims it seeks to protect.
The latest deadly clashes in Sweida have prompted further Israeli bombing, though the strikes on central Damascus are a serious escalation.
The Israeli army said it was preparing for several days of fighting in Syria and would withdraw forces from the Gaza Strip and divert them northwards to protect the border.
Turkey's foreign ministry condemned the Israeli attacks, saying they were an attempt to "sabotage" the country's recovery after 14 years of war.
The number of people injured in Israeli strikes on the Syrian capital has risen to 28, with one fatality confirmed, according to Syria’s Health Ministry.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 16, 2025
The Israeli military has acknowledged targeting the Syrian army headquarters and a "military site" near the presidential… pic.twitter.com/HLQMo8XVMK
"The Syrian people have a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world," the foreign ministry said.
"All stakeholders who support this opportunity should contribute to the Syrian government's efforts to establish peace."
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went a step further and, in a video statement, said Israel should kill Sharaa.
"We need to eliminate the head of the snake," he said in the video.
Sweida tensions
The Israeli army said that several hundred Druze citizens of Israel had crossed the border into Syria on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to support Syrians from their community.
It added that it was working to return them to Israel, and that it had successfully barred Syrian Druze from entering the country via the Hader area of southern Syria.
On Tuesday, the spiritual leaders of the Druze community said in a written statement that they would allow Syrian government forces to enter Sweida city to stop the violence.
The statement called for armed groups to surrender their weapons and cooperate with incoming troops.
But just hours later, Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri released a video statement in which he said the initial statement had been "imposed" on them and accused the government of bombarding the city with artillery.
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December, the government has struggled to pull together disparate factions and communities across the war-torn country.
Sweida and its Druze population largely managed to stay out of the Syrian civil war and maintain some degree of independence even under Assad's authoritarian rule.
In December, Hijri told Middle East Eye that he was looking forward to working with the new authorities and condemned the Israeli attacks and invasion that had been prompted by Assad's ouster.
Late on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported that an agreement had been reached to cease fire in Sweida, but it was again apparently rejected by Hijri and his supporters in a statement.
Khaled, a resident of Sweida, told MEE that the Sweida province and surrounding villages had witnessed widespread looting, the burning of shops, killings and assaults on civilians following the entry of Syrian government security forces on Tuesday.
“We hope that bloodshed will end, and that an agreement will be reached to ensure weapons are solely in the hands of the Syrian state and to restore security to our city,” he said.
“We are an integral part of the Syrian state throughout history, and we reject Israeli occupation or interference in our regions."
Pressure in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has carried on his country's attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and Syria against the backdrop of an ongoing corruption trial and fractures emerging in his coalition government.
'We are an integral part of the Syrian state throughout history, and we reject Israeli occupation or interference in our regions'
- Khaled, Sweida
A previous hearing of his trial in early July was delayed after a request made by the prime minister on classified diplomatic and security grounds.
On Wednesday, the testimony he was set to give in his criminal trial in the Tel Aviv District Court also ended early due to the developments in Syria.
Additionally, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party pulled out of the ruling coalition on Tuesday over a dispute surrounding a new bill to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.
The ultra-Orthodox have long been exempt from military service, unlike other Israeli Jews, instead focusing on religious education.
However, last year the Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of Defence to end the exemption and start conscripting seminary students, which has prompted outcry from UTJ and other ultra-Orthodox parties.
The UTJ's withdrawal leaves Netanyahu with a majority of one, holding 61 of the 120 seats in parliament.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
