CNN
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Israel launched a series of powerful strikes in Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, escalating a campaign in favor of Arab minority groups involved in fatal clashes with Syrian government forces.
Syrian Health Ministry told CNN that at least three people have been killed, 34 people have been injured in the attack and that they have been injured in the attack.
Israel has stepped up its campaign despite pressure from the US and has made an effort to end Syria’s international isolation.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government has announced a new ceasefire for the Druze, but it is unclear whether it will come into effect amid the division between the groups.
One video on Syrian television channel showed that the Ministry of Defense building was broadcast during the latest strike, forcing the anchor to cover.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz shared the footage saying, “The painful blow has begun.”
During a press conference held by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), military officials confirmed that Israel has targeted provinces and areas near the Presidential Palace.
Israel, which has been struggling in Syria since the collapse of Assad’s regime last December, says it is attacking Syria to protect the Druze, an Arab minority at the heart of clashes with government loyalists.
However, another incentive behind Israel’s decision to strike could be related to opposition to the current Syrian government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously called the country’s new leader a “radical Islamic regime” and a threat to the Israeli state.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Wednesday that he hopes his country will “maintain the status quo in South Syria, the area near our border, and prevent the emergence of threats to Israel in that space.”
Druze, an Arab sect of about a million people living primarily in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, practices derivatives of Islam that do not allow converts to religion or marriage. A druze consists of a network of groups with multiple drawings.
Syrian new president, Ahmed al-Shara, has encompassed and vowed to protect all of Syrian diverse communities, but the Sunni extremist forces loyal to him continued to face religious minorities fiercely.
Violence broke out over the weekend between the Druze and Bedouins in Sweida city in southern Syria, prompting intervention by the Syrian government.
The Syrian government claimed it had reached a new ceasefire agreement on Wednesday, but a key figure in the religious minority group denied it had reached an armistice. The previous ceasefire collapsed within hours.
A statement issued by the Syrian government said there will be a complete halt of military operations under the new ceasefire.
The Druze spiritual leader, representing one of Youssef Jarbou, one of Sweida factions, confirmed that an agreement was reached that “a complete and immediate halt of all military operations and emissions from all sides, and that the Army has returned to the barracks.”
However, Hikmat Al Hijri – a prominent Druze figure who sought international protection on Wednesday – refused to have a ceasefire and called on his supporters to continue the fight.
The clash continued Wednesday, when Fadi Hamdan, a carpenter from Sweida, told CNN “The situation in the city is tragic.”
“We’ve been getting electricity since yesterday (Tuesday) morning. The mobile services are very weak and the internet is barely functional,” Hamdan said. “The landline phones are completely down. The water was also blocked yesterday, but it’s back temporarily this morning.”
Hamdan said the current Syrian interim government is “fully responsible for what is happening in Sweeda.”
The US is “very concerned” about Wednesday’s strike, state Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “We’re talking both sides, all the relevant aspects, so we can bring that to a conclusion, but we’re very concerned,” Rubio added.
In Syria, the Deleuze community is concentrated in three major states in the south of the country, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, forming a majority in Sweida.
Before its official annexation in 1981, Golan Heights, a strategic plateau seized from Syria by Israel during the six-day war in 1967, is home to more than 20,000 Druzes.
It appears that hundreds of people in the Druze community have recently moved from Golan Heights to Syria.
It is unclear when the intersection occurred, but separate videos circulating on social media on Tuesday and Wednesday show people carrying the Druze flag across the border fence that is allegedly told from Golan Heights to Syria.
They apparently responded to pleas from the Druze leaders to support their community in the ongoing conflict.
Speaking to Golan Heights with the Israeli Druze community on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called on them not to cross the border.
“I have one request from you. You are a citizen of Israel. Please don’t cross the border,” he said.
This story has been updated in development.
