Israel strikes Syria’s Sweida, Damascus • FRANCE 24 English

The Israeli military says it has attacked the entrance gate of the Syrian military headquarters in the capital Damascus. Earlier, two Syrian security sources had said an Israeli strike had hit the defense ministry in the capital. This all comes as new clashes broke out this Wednesday between Syrian government troops and local Drews fighters just hours after a ceasefire was announced. We’re going to talk about all of this now with France 24’s Noa Tonoposki who joins me from Jerusalem. Noga, first of all, what more do we know about these latest Israeli strikes? Good to see you, Genie. Well, in addition to the air strike you just mentioned, we do know that the Israeli army appears to be amassing forces at various points um on the Golan Heights on the Israeli held Golan Heights as if it were planning or at least warning of various small incursions into Syria. And inside Israel, there’s a just an explosion of demands from Drews um dignitaries, the Drews community, Drews community leaders, um who have declared a general strike, who’ve declared a day of rage, uh who have asked the entire community to go up to the Golan Heights and to threaten to cross the border if the Israeli army doesn’t act. It’s very hot and heavy here in Israel, but the messages from inside Syria are rather confused. We have seen footage of atrocities committed against uh Drews communities and individuals in Sueda and we have heard calls for Israel to intervene from certain individual duses in Syria. But on the other hand, there are also uh Drews leaders within the country who say Israel should not intervene, that any Israeli intervention will only harm uh relations between Syrian Jews and the Syrian state, and that um and saying that some of these uh some of this footage of atrocities that we’ve seen are basically political propaganda and are not recent footage. So, there’s a misinformation war apparently underway. In addition to genuine clashes here in Israel, the news that’s filtering through is just very, very grave and is really whipping up a sense of urgency. I should add that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, cut his testimony short today. He gave only three hours of testimony, citing the situation in Syria as the reason he had to abandon his trial. So NA given all of this and what you’re just telling us with these troops amassing on the border, these strikes on Damascus, talk to us more about the IDF strategy. Right. It’s an excellent question. Right now what we see is that the IDF strategy is at the very minimum at the very least to provide a solid back solid backing of support for the Drews communities in southern Syria. There appears to be a a reluctance to just straight out invade for now. Um and this attack, you know, it’s got kind of called a a knock on the ceiling type attack uh of the entryway to the major um to the Syrian military command headquarters in Damascus is seen as a warning shot. But what it is warning of is unclear because what we’re hearing again from some of the Drews leadership in uh Suea is that the Syrian army did not come in to massacre Drews as um many are saying, but that they did come to try and assuage the fire between local Bedwin, armed Bedwins and armed Drews. So there’s an enormous amount of confusion. The Israeli army appears to be saying, “We’re here amassing at your border. We can march in at any moment and we’re sending you a warning.” What is not clear is what the Israeli government messages. Earlier today, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel has no interest at all in fighting with Syria. The uh Israeli foreign minister, in fact, is attending a meeting in Brussels where he was supposed to meet or at least be in the same room with the Syrian foreign minister. Last I heard that was still uh on the books. Um but it’s just uh a situation in which everyone seems to be getting their hackles up, making their intentions clear, and at least for now still waiting to see how matters develop. Noga, thank you for that. at f24’s Noatanoposki in Jerusalem.

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus. The strike came as clashes continued in the southern Syrian city of Sweida after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed. Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces since the clashes erupted, saying that it is acting to protect the Druze. Noga Tarnopolsky has the latest from Jerusalem.
#Syria #Israel #strikes

🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN

🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/

Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X: https://f24.my/Xen
Bluesky: https://f24.my/BSen and Threads: https://f24.my/THen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen

30 comments

  2. Israel is completely reckless and out of control. They are still at war with Iran. Now they are starting a war with Syria. Soon they will come running to the U.S. for help again.

  7. Wrong headline- the Druze community in Syria is getting massacred and DW supports in their silence! Women are raped and murdered , religious leaders are shaved and murdered !! And the western world says nothing and only blames Israel as a reflex without looking at the facts and what’s going on on the ground! The jihadists in the new regime are slaughtering a religious minority!

  14. peace in syria and middle east means NO MONEY from royal families of GCC who pay usa for security, SO USA WILL DO WHATEVER POSSIBLE TO ENSURE DISTABILITY, usa is fully aware, especially now that trump has bahrain and qatar leaders, trump will use what israel is doing to show THEM TO CONTINUE GIVING USA MONEY TO AVOID ISRAEL(USA)

  20. Funny how this emergency came up on the same day Netanyahu was supposed to give testimony at his trial 🤔

  22. But you say Jolani is now "reformed" so you can now openly support him and call him your guy…does Isr know you all are on the same side? What happened? Muh "free Syria"…another failed state like the West and its minions ruined Libya..

Comments are closed.