Israel strikes targets near Damascus presidential palace in ‘message to Syrian regime’
Regime slams ‘dangerous escalation’; Syrian Druze agree to hand over unlicensed weapons to new government; airstrikes come after Israeli Druze blocked roads to protest government’s inaction
Israel conducted airstrikes early on Friday near Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s official residential compound in Damascus in response to violence in Syria against the country’s Druze minority, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Katz later wrote on X that the strikes were a “clear warning to the Syrian regime. When Jolani (al-Sharaa) wakes up in the morning and sees the results of the Israeli Air Force fighter jets’ strike, he understands that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria.
“It is his duty to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from attacks by jihadist rioters and to enable the hundreds of thousands of Druze in Sweida and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves on their own, and not to send jihadist forces into the villages,” Katz continued. “It is our duty to protect the Druze in Syria from harm, for the sake of our Druze brothers in Israel, their loyalty to the state, and their immense contribution to Israel’s security.”
In a statement, the Syrian presidency condemned the strikes and described them as “a serious escalation against state institutions and its sovereignty.”
Israel, which sees the new forces in Syria as jihadists, also struck near Damascus on Wednesday and has attacked hundreds of military sites in Syria since Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow, saying its military would hit government targets “should the violence against Druze communities continue.”
It has also sent troops into the demilitarized buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
BREAKING – Israel has confirmed conducting an airstrike that targeted the vicinity of the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria.
PM Netanyahu on the airstrike near the Presidential Palace:
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow a withdrawal of forces… pic.twitter.com/zUWv824hR8
— Intel Tower???? (@inteltower) May 2, 2025
Several Syrian Druze wounded in the recent violence have been brought to Israel for medical treatment.
On Friday, the IDF announced that a further five Syrian Druze, who were apparently wounded during sectarian violence in the country, were evacuated by the Israeli military to a hospital.
They were taken to Ziv Hospital in Safed, where five other wounded Syrian Druze were taken in recent days.
The military said troops were “deployed to southern Syria and prepared to prevent hostile forces from entering the area and Druze villages.”
“The IDF continues to monitor the developments, while maintaining readiness for defense and different scenarios,” the military added.
Netanyahu speaks to Druze leader
Also Friday, Netanyahu spoke with Sheikh Muafak Tarif, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, said Netanyahu’s office.
Tarif thanked Netanyahu for his orders to protect the Druze in Syria this week.
According to the readout, Tarif said the Israeli actions “sent a deterrent message to the Syrian regime regarding Israel’s commitment to the Druze community in Syria.”
After Druze protesters blocked roads in northern Israel on Thursday night and into early Friday morning, Netanyahu told Tarif that he expects the Druze to respect the law in Israel, as it normally does.
Tarif responded that Druze leaders condemn violence and law-breaking from the protesters, and assured Netanyahu that the Druze will continue to respect Israel’s laws, according to the PMO.
Friday’s strikes came after several days of clashes between local armed Druze groups and other armed groups, followed by confrontations between the Druze and official Syrian security forces in Druze strongholds across Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition body operating from outside Syria, has reported 21 deaths in the past 24 hours and 101 in recent days. According to the report, most were armed men killed in exchanges of fire, but nine Druze civilians were executed by Syrian security forces. These claims have not been independently verified, and the Observatory has a shaky track record regarding reliability.
Heavy weapons agreement
Druze representatives in the Jaraman area in the suburbs of Damascus signed an agreement with Syrian regime representatives to hand over heavy weapons held by the Druze to the regime and to reinforce the regime’s security forces in the area.
Hossam al-Tahan, head of the Syrian regime’s security administration in the Damascus area, announced the agreement, according to which unlicensed weapons will be handed over to the authorities after a defined period.
Earlier, the governor of the Sweida province, a Druze stronghold in southern Syria, announced on Thursday an agreement allowing the entry of official Syrian security forces into the area, for the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise to power of Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Protests in Israel
On Thursday, members of the Israeli Druze community protested in the north, calling for the government to defend the Syrian Druze while shutting down several key traffic routes.
The road closures led to traffic jams, during which several fights broke out between the Druze protesters and drivers asking them to clear the road, according to video clips shared online.
The footage also showed the demonstrators burning tires at blocked intersections and climbing up traffic poles to hang Druze flags.
Along with the highway protests, dozens of demonstrators rallied near Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea.
Sheikh Muafak Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, together with Yisrael Beytenu MK Hamad Amar, later released a video statement calling on Druze demonstrators to clear roads and return to their homes.
תיעוד: מדורות על הכביש ועימותים בין המפגינים בני העדה הדרוזית לבין אזרחים שביקשו מהם לפתוח את הדרך
(אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/KSo4UCBQvL— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 1, 2025
According to Ynet, a large number of those protesting were Druze IDF reservists who believe that Israel is failing their community inside Syria.
“We’re receiving increasing reports from our brothers that Sheikhs are going out to defend their villages themselves and are being slaughtered, while Israel stands by and doesn’t do anything to stop these atrocities as they promised they would,” one reservist told the news outlet.
“There is a historic covenant between the Jews and the Druze, and just as we stood up to fight for the state and die if necessary, at every opportunity and in particular in the face of the horrors of October 7, we must stand up and stop the current atrocities in Syria that are directed at our brothers,” he added.
Amid the protests, a group of Druze soldiers sent a letter to Netanyahu demanding IDF action “to stop the slaughter of our Druze brothers across the border in Syria — just as you and the defense minister promised.”
The signatories, which the Kan public broadcaster said included both reservists and conscript soldiers, also indicated they were willing to go alone.
“Hundreds of Druze soldiers are ready to immediately volunteer to fight alongside our brothers to save them even at the price of taking responsibility for the risks that doing so poses to our wellbeing and lives,” they wrote.
תיעוד מההפגנת בנ העדה הדרוזית בצומת עמיעד. צילום: לפי סעיף 27א pic.twitter.com/NPD2MWW8Ue
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 1, 2025
The protests came after Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri condemned what he called a “genocidal campaign” against his community and urged immediate intervention by “international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes.”
At a meeting of Druze leaders, elders, and armed groups in the city of Sweida, the community agreed it was “an inseparable part of the unified Syrian homeland,” a spokesperson said.
“We reject partition, separation, or disengagement,” the spokesperson added.
The Druze gathering on Thursday urged the government to engage “the judicial police in Sweida, drawing from the province’s own residents” on the issue.
Syria’s new authorities, who have roots in the al-Qaeda terror organization, have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but must also contend with pressures from radical Islamists.
Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Thursday reiterated Syria’s rejection of demands for international intervention, posting on X that “national unity is the solid foundation for any process of stability or revival.”
“Any call for external intervention, under any pretext or slogan, only leads to further deterioration and division,” he added.
In a statement Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the violence and rhetoric against the Druze community in Syria was “reprehensible and unacceptable,” and called on the interim authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.
Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.
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