The Israeli Air Force has attacked about 160 targets in Syria since the evening of July 15, according to a report by Galei Zahal, the radio station of the Israeli military.
According to the report, the strikes targeted the facilities of the "Syrian regime", most of them in the area of the southern city of Sweida, home to the Druze people.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it struck the Syrian General Staff compound in Damascus and then continued attacks. Before that, Katz warned that Israel would continue to strike Syria unless its government pulled troops from the Druze-populated area in and around the town of Sweida.
Since the change of government in Damascus in 2024, Israel has repeatedly voiced support for the Druze in the neighboring Arab country and expressed its intention to assist them in self-defense if necessary.
The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethnic and religious group whose members live in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. The 700,000 Druze in Syria make up the country’s third-largest religious and ethnic minority after the Kurds and Alawites.
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Following the strike on the Syrian General Staff compound, the Israel Defense Forces said it attacked another target in the Syrian capital.
ReplyDeleteAccording to an IDF statement, the attack targeted a "military site" near the presidential palace.
The statement commented on the strike on the General Staff compound in Damascus, which took place previously.
The IDF linked it to the escalating situation in southern Syria, where Israeli-backed Druze people are engaged in fighting.
"The military headquarters in Damascus is the place from where Syrian regime commanders manage combat operations and the deployment of regime forces in Sweida," the statement said.
The Trump administration has asked Israel to halt its strikes on Syrian government targets and to open direct talks with Damascus, a senior US official told Axios on Wednesday.
ReplyDelete"We told the Israelis to stand down and take a breath," the senior US official said, adding that the administration is pushing for direct talks between Israel and Syria to solve the crisis, it said.
On Wednesday, Israel launched several airstrikes on Damascus. The first hit the area where the General Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces is located, and the subsequent ones struck the General Staff building and, according to media reports, the presidential palace.
Israeli forces launched heavy attacks on Syrian military positions, including the Ministry of Defense building and the General Staff headquarters in Damascus.
ReplyDeleteLive footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed intense bombardment hitting multiple sites across the Syrian capital.
Israeli war minister Yoav Gallant declared that “painful operations” against Syria had commenced.
Syrian media reported sections of the Defense Ministry sustained severe damage, while the entrance to the General Staff building was also struck.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu left a court session citing security reasons, later reiterating support for Syria’s Druze community to justify the strikes.
An Israeli military official has said that some troops stationed in Gaza were to be redeployed to the area of the frontier with Syria, where Israel has struck claiming to defend the Druze minority.
ReplyDeleteThe military official told reporters during a briefing that some soldiers were "preparing to be deployed on our northern border with Syria" from Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants since the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack.
The IDF said it struck a "military target" in the area of Syria's presidential palace in Damascus, after earlier announcing it had hit the military headquarters in the capital.
The Israeli military "continues to strike military targets belonging to the Syrian regime in Damascus", an army statement said.
"A military target in the area of the Syrian regime's presidential palace in Damascus was struck," it added.
Le bilan des attaques israéliennes contre la capitale syrienne s'élève à 3 morts et 34 blessés
ReplyDeleteUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the situation in Syria is “complicated” but looks like a “misunderstanding” and he thinks progress towards de-escalation will be made in the next few hours.
ReplyDeleteRubiio earlier voiced concern after US ally Israel struck Syria’s army headquarters, saying the violence impeded efforts to bring stability to war-torn Syria.
“Israel” admite bombardeos en Sweida y amenaza intensificar ofensiva
ReplyDelete"Tel Aviv" confirma la continuidad de los ataques a objetivos sirios hasta lograr la retirada total del ejército sirio de la región drusa del sur.