Israel Launches Strikes on Syrian Military Headquarters in Damascus

The airstrikes come amid violence in and around the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria.

Smoke rises after strikes on Syria's defense ministry in Damascus on July 16, 2025. Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

Israel said on July 16 that it launched airstrikes in the Syrian capital of Damascus, damaging the country’s defense ministry near its presidential palace, amid fighting in southern Syria.

“The IDF struck the entrance of the Syrian regime’s military headquarters in the area of Damascus in Syria,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X.

Scores of people have been killed this week in violence in and around the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, with fighters from the Druze minority battling government security forces and members of Bedouin tribes.

“The IDF continues to monitor developments and the regime’s actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria. In accordance with directives from the political echelon, the IDF is striking in the area and remains prepared for various scenarios,” the IDF also said on July 16.

The Syrian health ministry said the strikes in Damascus wounded 13 people, state news agency SANA said on July 16.

The news agency also said that Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes targeting Sweida and locations in Daraa on July 15.

In a July 15 statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the IDF attacked Syrian forces and their weapons—which the regime “intended to use against the Druze”—that entered Sweida.

Druze are followers of an Abrahamic religion and primarily live in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

“Israel is committed to preventing harm being inflicted on the Druze in Syria, owing to the deep covenant of blood with our Druze citizens in Israel and their historical and familial link to the Druze in Syria,” the statement reads.

“We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them, and to ensure the demilitarization of the region adjacent to our border with Syria.”

A statement from the Syrian leadership on July 16 said those responsible for lawlessness in Sweida would be held accountable. It said the regime was committed to protecting the rights of the people in Sweida.

“These acts, which fall within the category of criminal and illegal behavior, are unacceptable under any circumstances and completely contradict the principles upon which the Syrian state is based,” the statement attributed to the Syrian leadership said, according to SANA.

A local news outlet, Sweida24, reported that Syrian regime forces have searched “civilians’ homes for weapons” and also carried out “field executions against unarmed civilians” in Sweida.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. special envoy for Syria, who has praised Syria’s new rulers and declared in May that peace was possible between Syria and Israel, condemned violence against civilians in Sweida.

“All parties must step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire. Perpetrators need to be held accountable,” he said in a July 16 statement on X.

The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the administration of interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, occurring despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.

In May, the Trump administration announced sanctions against Syria would be lifted while President Donald Trump said that al-Sharaa has “got a real shot at pulling it together.”

Al-Sharaa’s forces took over in December 2024 following the quick collapse of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Decades ago, al-Sharaa had joined the al-Qaeda terrorist group and later created the al-Nusra Front, another terrorist group based in Syria that opposed the Assad regime and ISIS during the Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011.

Reuters contributed to this report.