Syria: Heavy Israeli strikes in Damascus as fighting rages in Druze city of Suwayda

The Israeli military said it struck Syrian military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday as violence flared up again in the Druze city of Suwayda, posing challenges to the political transition in the country under President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

What happened: Israel said it bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Sharaa government to respect the security autonomy of the Druze in Suwayda. Reports emerged on social media that Israel struck close to the presidential palace in Damascus.

Besides Damascus, Israel said it also struck near Suwayda to block Syrian tanks, missile launchers and vehicles heading toward Suwayda, adding that it is striking roads to prevent forces from reaching the area.

At 4:10 p.m. local time (9:10 a.m. ET), the Israeli army announced that it ordered additional forces to the north in order to “increase the pace of strikes and halt attacks against the Druze in Syria.”

The Syrian Health Ministry said that 13 people were injured in Israeli strikes on Damascus, Syria’s official news outlet, SANA, reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel is “acting to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the gangs of the regime.”

The renewed Israeli strikes followed another outbreak of violence in the city of Suwayda and its eponymous province. The Syrian Defense Ministry said that “a number of outlaw groups have attacked once again the army and internal security forces” in the area, prompting the military to respond, SANA reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian military forces conducted drone and mortar strikes against Suwayda city and the nearby village of Sahwat al-Balatah and besieged the national hospital in the city. The UK-based war monitor said that an elderly man in the village of al-Tha’lah was extrajudicially executed by Syrian government forces — among other deaths that occurred on Wednesday — bringing the death toll from the violence in recent days to 260.

SANA reported at 5:16 p.m. local time (10:16: a.m. ET) that an agreement was reached in Suwayda for a ceasefire, the deployment of security checkpoints and the area’s “complete integration into the Syrian state.”

Why it matters: Violence between Druze and Bedouins erupted in Suwayda on Sunday following a string of tit-for-tat kidnappings. The Syrian government announced a ceasefire on Tuesday.

Israel likewise carried out strikes in the area on Tuesday, fulfilling the government’s pledge to protect Syria’s Druze. The Druze number about 750,000 in Syria and 140,000 in Israel.

Netanyahu told Israeli Druze not to cross the border in his Wednesday statement, following the Israeli military reporting that some citizens crossed into Syria the day prior. “I ask of you: Return to your homes and let the IDF take action,” he said.

The Syrian Presidency acknowledged “unfortunate violations” had occurred in Suwayda in a statement on Wednesday.

“We, in the Syrian government, strongly condemn these shameful acts and affirm our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and holding accountable anyone proven to be involved,” read the statement. “Any party responsible for these acts, whether individuals or outlaw organizations, will be subject to deterrent legal accountability, and we will not allow them to go unpunished.”

Sharaa has condemned sectarian violence since taking power in December. He has vowed to investigate the March massacres of some 1,500 Alawites in the coastal Tartous and Latakia provinces.

Sharaa’s government came to power in December after a rebel offensive ousted longtime ruler President Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa led the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham during the civil war, and former HTS members dominate the new government.

Background: Syria has seen sporadic episodes of sectarian and tribal violence since Assad’s ouster. A church in Damascus was attacked by suicide bombers last month. In late April, clashes broke out between Druze and Sunnis in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, after a video circulated purportedly showing a Druze man insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

In March, clashes between pro-Assad militias and the new government’s forces triggered revenge killings targeting the Alawite community in the coastal Latakia and Tartous provinces. A Reuters investigation published in late June concluded that nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed in the massacres and that at least a dozen factions now under the government’s command participated in the massacres.

Know more: Israel and Syria have engaged in normalization talks in recent weeks aimed at de-escalating tensions between the two. Al-Monitor’s Ben Caspit wrote on Tuesday that the recent violence has delayed a potential security deal.

Israel moved its forces into Syrian territory in December following the collapse of Assad’s government, declaring the 1974 border agreement void after his fall.