Israel bombs vicinity of Syrian presidential palace
Israel bombed an area near the Syrian presidential palace on Friday, in the latest unprovoked attack against Damascus.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the attack was intended to send a "message" to the nascent Syrian government against deploying forces south of Damascus.
They also framed the attack as a deterrent against threats to the Druze minority, which Israel claims it is committed to "protecting" from attacks.
The Friday strikes came after deadly clashes between pro-government fighters and local Druze gunmen last week left dozens of people killed south of Damascus.
The tensions were in part over a now-debunked audio clip of a Druze cleric allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
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Since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has ramped up attacks across Syria, including dozens of air strikes and a major ground incursion.
Israeli leaders have repeatedly issued threats against new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Israel exploits Druze community
Amid the violence, Israel launched drone strikes on Wednesday targeting the countryside around the Syrian capital, and issued further threats of attacks, claiming to act in defence of Druze civilians.
The Israeli military stated that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had instructed forces to prepare for strikes against "targets in Syria" should the violence against the Druze community continue.
Historically, Syria’s Druze have kept some distance from the central state, even before the Assad dynasty and today’s new government. They live primarily in Sweida, the country’s southernmost governorate along the border with Jordan, as well as in Damascus suburbs further north.
Since rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham overthrew Assad, Syria's new government has sought to improve diplomatic ties with the West, and also said it does not want conflict with Israel.
Attempts by Sharaa to rebuild ties with the country's disparate religious and ethnic groups suffered a major blow in March when clashes between Assad supporters and pro-government forces spiralled into massacres of the Alawi minority.
In neighbouring Lebanon, still reeling from its year-long war with Israel, Waleed Jumblatt, a political leader from the country's Druze community, also appealed for calm but rejected Israeli interference in Syria.
"Israel seeks to exploit the Druze to create internal strife in Syria," he said in remarks reported by Al Jazeera Arabic.
"We need a unified Syria and Israel wants to displace and exploit the Druze."
Turkey, seen as Damascus' closest ally, also condemned the drone strike on Wednesday and accused Israel of trying to further ignite turmoil in the region.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that Israeli attacks were an unacceptable provocation and that he would meet US President Donald Trump face to face as they "understand each other" regarding policies in Syria.
"On issues we think differently, our search for a compromise on a reasonable basis will surely continue," he said, praising their previous contacts as "sincere, fruitful and friendly".
For months, Israel has lobbied the US to keep Syria weak and decentralised, and on Tuesday Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed that the war on Gaza would only end when "hundreds of thousands" of Palestinians are forcibly displaced and Syria is dismembered.
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