Shafaq News/ Israeli warplanes targeted an areanear the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus overnight, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu announced Friday, framing the strike as a message to theSyrian government and a move to protect the country’s Druze minority amidescalating regional unrest.
It was Israel’s second such strike in as manydays.
“In a clear message to the Syrian regime, Israelconducted a nighttime strike near the presidential palace in Damascus,”Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz. “We willnot allow Syrian forces to expand south of the capital or threaten the Druzepopulation.”
The Israeli military confirmed the operation,saying its fighter jets had hit “an area adjacent to the residence of Ahmad Husseinal-Sharaa” in central Damascus. It did not specify the exact target.
#عاجل ? أغارت طائرات حربية قبل قليل على المنطقة المجاورة لقصر أحمد حسين الشرع في دمشق
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) May 2, 2025Syrian authorities have not issued an officialresponse, but residents reported intense aerial activity and multipleexplosions shaking parts of the capital.
The strike came amid mounting Israeli concernover what it described as “growing threats” to the Druze population in Syria.Earlier this week, Defense Minister Katz warned that Israel would respond “withoverwhelming force” if Damascus failed to protect Druze-populated areas—particularlyafter recent clashes in the Sahnaya and Jaramana suburbs and the southernprovince of As Sweida.
On Wednesday, Israeli warplanes struck whatofficials described as an “extremist cell” in Sahnaya, accusing the group ofplotting attacks against Druze civilians. That operation was described byIsraeli media as a “warning shot.”
Israel’s military escalation follows theDecember collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime—an event thatIsraeli leadership has called a “strategic opportunity” to curb any resurgenceof Syrian military power near its northern border. Israeli media cited sourcesclaiming that much of Syria’s heavy military infrastructure was disabled in thewake of Al-Assad’s ouster.
Since Monday night, Syria has been rocked by sectarianclashes that have left more than 100 people dead, according to the SyrianObservatory for Human Rights. The casualties include Druze fighters, pro-regimesecurity forces, and armed groups, as well as civilians.
The violence comes on the heels of a brutal waveof unrest in Syria’s coastal region last month, in which some 1,700people—mostly Alawites—were killed.
Moafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’sDruze community, urged swift intervention. “We are on the brink of a massacre,”he said. “The international community must act now to protect Druze lives inSyria.”
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