Israel has bombed the military headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The Wednesday airstrike escalates tensions as the regime has warned the ruling HTS administration to withdraw forces from the southern city of Suwayda.
Israeli minister for military affairs Israel Katz said in a statement that the military “struck the entrance of the Syrian regime’s military headquarters in the area of Damascus in Syria.”
According to reports, two drone attacks hit the premises of the Syrian Ministry of Defense—one in front of the main entrance and another near the rear of the building.
Medical sources in Syria said at least one person was killed and 18 others wounded in the attacks.
Israel said it struck a "military target" in the area of the presidential palace in Damascus. The military, it said, "continues to strike military targets belonging to the Syrian regime in Damascus.”
Katz warned Syria’s interim regime to withdraw its forces from the southern Druze-majority city of Suwayda, where fierce clashes have erupted in recent days between the Druze community and Bedouins, who are Sunni Muslims.
Israel is likely to send more troops to the Syrian border.
On Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu ordered military units to target any Syrian government troops or weapons entering Suwayda province.
He claimed the intervention was meant to protect the Druze community, whom Tel Aviv views as a strategic ally due to their deep ties to those living in the occupied Golan Heights.
In his statement, Katz called on Damascus to “leave the Druze in Suwayda alone.”
“As we have made clear and warned, Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarization policy we have decided on.”
Syrian forces should withdraw, he said, and threatened that Israel would “raise the level of responses against the regime if the message is not understood.”
“Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarization policy we have decided on.”
In February, Netanyahu said southern Syria must remain fully demilitarized and warned that his regime would not tolerate any military presence near the Golan Heights.
Under the 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria, Israeli forces are barred from crossing the so-called Alpha Line into the Area of Separation (AoS) beyond the line.
Following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s government on December 8, 2024, Netanyahu ordered Israeli forces to push deep into Syrian territory and seize control of several strategic locations.
Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterated that Israeli forces would not withdraw from the demilitarized buffer zone, calling their presence “essential for the defense of Golan Heights settlements.”