Israel’s military attacked Damascus, Syria, twice on Wednesday, striking the Defense Ministry. Clashes between the Syrian army and Druze fighters in southern Syria in the country’s deadliest violence in months.

On Wednesday, the Syrian government and one of the three spiritual leaders of the Syrian Druze community announced a ceasefire. It was unclear if the truce would hold, however, as another spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, vowed to keep fighting, calling the government a collection of “armed gangs.”

The Druze, a religious minority in Syria and the wider Middle East, make up the majority of the population of Sweida province in the south of the country. They have been negotiating with the Islamist-led authorities in Damascus since the fall of Assad, in an attempt to achieve some form of autonomy. They have yet to reach an agreement that defines their relationship with the new Syrian state. –The Guardian. 

Israel Strikes A Syrian City

According to Syrian officials, the strikes collapsed four floors of the defense ministry building and ruined its facade. The strikes killed one person and injured 18, Syrian officials said. This was the third day in a row that Israel attacked Syria, and the first conflict between the two since May.

Israel has said that the attacks were conducted to prevent the Syrian army from deploying in the south of the country. It also said that it would protect the Druze community from the Damascus government. Many in the Druze community have rebuffed Israel’s claim of patronage for fear of being viewed as a foreign proxy.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said the strike on the defence ministry had been a message to the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa “regarding the events in Sweida”. The Israeli military struck Syrian tanks on Monday and has continued to conduct dozens of drone strikes on troops, killing some soldiers, according to a report by The Guardian.