Western diplomats were driving past Syria’s defence ministry in Damascus in an armoured convoy when Israel launched several missiles at the building on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the incident, including a Syrian eyewitness.
No-one in the convoy was injured and it continued on its way, the people said, declining to give further details on the nationalities or number of those involved.
Israel launched powerful airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace, while also striking government security forces operating against terrorists from the country’s Druze minority in the southern province of Sweida.
The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the Islamist-led administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. They came despite his warming ties with the U.S. and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
Israel Vows To Protect Druze
Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has said it will not let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area’s Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze minority.
The U.S. said the fighting would stop soon.
“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media.
A Syrian medical source said the strikes on the ministry killed five members of the security forces.
An Israeli military official said the entrance to the military headquarters in Damascus was struck, along with a military target near the presidential palace. The official said Syrian forces were not acting to prevent attacks on Druze and were part of the problem.
“We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold,” said Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief of staff.
Israel says its strikes were part of an effort to protect the Druze minority in southern Syria, an assertion rejected by Syria’s president, who said Israel aimed to undermine the new government’s efforts to bring the country together.
(With inputs from Reuters)
