Israeli airstrike targets Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – An Israeli airstrike targeted on Wednesday the entrance gate of the Syrian Ministry of Defense’s General Staff complex in the capital, Damascus, a Syrian government source told North Press.

The source confirmed that an explosion was heard in the vicinity of the Ministry of Defense building, and that the Israeli aircraft fired what were described as “warning missiles” at the facility, resulting in minor injuries to one individual.

Israel’s Channel 12 cited a security source confirming that the Israeli military carried out the strike on Damascus.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated in Arabic that the Israeli army targeted the entrance to the General Staff complex belonging to the Syrian regime in Damascus.

“The Israel Defense Forces continue to monitor developments and acts of violence against Druze civilians in Syria,” he added. “Based on directives from the political leadership, the army is conducting operations in the area and remains on high alert for various scenarios.

Early in the day, Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called on the Syrian transitional government to immediately withdraw its forces from the city of Suwayda, southern Syria, and demanded the release of detained Druze residents. 

In the context, the spiritual leadership of the Druze community in Syria issued an urgent appeal, calling on global powers and influential leaders—among them U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several Arab heads of state—to intervene and “save Suwayda.”

Violent clashes between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Syrian government forces on one side, and Druze armed factions on the other, entered their fourth consecutive day in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda, with reports of heavy weapons and rocket fire being used in residential neighborhoods.

By Abdulsalam Khoja