United States “very worried” while Israel attacks Syria

Damascus, Syria – The Israeli army launched a rare air attack in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday, hitting the headquarters of the Syrian Defense Ministry and attracting a call from the Trump administration to “the struggle to stop” while clashes in the city of southern Sweida continued. Israel’s attack occurred hours after an attack with unmanned aircraft in the same building. Sirian State Media reported a “number of victims” without giving more details.

As the clashes have been triggered for days in the city of Sweida, the capital of the province of the same name, between government forces and armed Drusos groups, Israel has launched a series of strikes aimed at troops and convoys of the Government, which according to them are in support of the group of religious minorities, and has promised to increase their participation.

He has also reinforced his forces along his edge with Syria.

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said after the air attack in an X position that the “painful blows have begun.”

The Trump Administration “very worried” about Israeli attacks in Syria

Israeli attacks have raised concern in Washington, where the Trump administration has tried in recent weeks to help the new government of Syria solidify control and build ties with the international community.

The United States lifted a wide range of sanctions against Syria at the end of June, and Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said the movements intended to encourage investment in the country.

“Syria must also continue working to become a stable country that is at peace, and hopefully, today’s actions will put the country on a way to a brilliant, prosperous and stable future,” Besent said at that time.

On Wednesday, the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, said that the Trump administration was “very concerned about Israel’s attacks in Syria,” and added: “We are talking with all the relevant parts on all sides. We want the struggles to stop.”

Rubio called the clashes around Sweida “a direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Syria,” and added: “We have been and remain in repeated and constant conversations with the governments of Syria and Israel on this matter.”

A rebel offensive directed by Islamist insurgent groups Syrian’s despotic leader, Bashar Assadin December, sending it into exile in Russia and ending a civil war of almost 14 years. Since then, the new rulers of the country have struggled to consolidate control.

Muslim government mainly Sunita has faced suspicions of the religious and ethnic minorities of Syria, whose fears increased after clashes between government forces and armed groups in favor of the AS that were associated in March in sectarian revenge attacks. Hundreds of civilians from the Alauita religious minority, to which Assad belongs, were killed.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense had previously blamed militias in the Sweida Druze-Mojority majority area for violating a high fire agreement that had been reached on Tuesday, which caused the Syrian Army soldiers to return fire. He said that “the rules of commitment were adhering to protect residents, avoid damage and guarantee the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes.”

But the reports of attacks against civilians continued to appear, and Duse with family members in the conflict zone desperately sought information about their destination amid communication blackouts.

Claims of government forces that attack Druss civilians

In Jaramana, near the Syrian capital, Evelyn Azzam, 20, said she fears that her husband, Robert Kiwan, 23, is dead. The newlyweds live in the Damascus suburb, but Kiwan would travel to Sweida for work every morning and were trapped there when the clashes exploded.

Azzam said he was talking on the phone with Kiwan when the security forces were already questioned by a colleague about whether they were affiliated with the Druse militias. When her husband’s colleague raised her voice, she heard a shot. Kiwan was shot while trying to intervene.

“They shot my husband in the hip of what I could gather,” he said, struggling to contain the tears. “The ambulance took him to the hospital. Since then, we have no idea what has happened.”

A Syrian Sweid Druso who lives in the United Arab Emirates said that his mother, his father and his sister hid in a basement at home near the hospital, where they could hear the sound of bombing and bullets from outside. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of her family.

I had fought to grab them, but when he reached them, he said: “I heard them cry. I have never heard them in this way before.”

Another Duse woman who lives in the EAU with family members in Sweida, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a cousin told her that a house where her relatives lived had been burned with all those who were inside her.

He reminded him when ISIS extremists attacked Sweida in 2018, he said. His uncle was among many civilians there that they took arms to defend themselves while Assad’s forces stopped to the side. He was killed in the fight.

“It’s the same right now,” he told The News. Drusos fighters said, they are “only people who protect their province and their families.”

Who are the Druzos and why will Israel defend them?

The religious sect Druze began as a branch of the 10th century of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the approximately 1 million Drusos worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druss live in Lebanon and Israel, even in Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the Middle East War of 1967 and was attached in 1981.

The last climbing in Syria began with a series of kidnappings and teta attacks by eye that involve local Sunni tribes and armed Druse features in the province of the South. The government forces that intervened to restore the order faced with the Druso.

The videos appeared on the social networks of combatants affiliated with the government by forceing the mustaches of the Drusos sheikhs, and treading flags of drusites and images of religious clergy. Other videos showed the Druss fighters who hit the captured government forces and posing for their bodies. The AP reporters in the area saw burned and looted houses.

Official victims figures have not been published since Monday, when the Syrian Interior Ministry said 30 people had been killed. The monitoring organization based in the United Kingdom, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, said that more than 250 people had been killed until Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces.

The observatory said at least 21 people were killed in “field executions.”

The interim president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, issued a statement on Wednesday condemning violations.

“These criminal and illegal actions cannot be accepted under any circumstance, and completely contradicts the principles on which the Syrian State is based,” reads the statement, promising that perpetrators, “of individuals or organizations outside the law, will be legally responsible, and we will never allow this to happen without punishment.”

In Israel, Druss are seen as a loyal minority often serve in the army. In Syria, the Druze has divided on how to deal with the new leaders of the country, and some advocate integrating into the new system, while others remained suspicious and pushed by a region of autonomous drusites.

On Wednesday, Israeli defense minister Katz said in a statement that the Israeli army “will continue to attack the forces of the regime until they withdraw from the area, and will also raise the response bar against the regime if the message is not understood.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday night that Israel has “a commitment to preserve the southwest region of Syria as a demilitarized area on the border of Israel” and has “the obligation to safeguard the Drusos premises.”

MG ORI Gordin, who is the commander of the North Command of the Israeli army, said the IDF were “operating decisively” in the Sweida area, “surprising regime objectives in the region.”

“We are increasing the pressure and rhythm of the strikes,” Gordin said. “We also carry out strikes in Damascus and we will continue attacking throughout the south of Syria.”

Israel has adopted an aggressive position towards the new Syrian leaders since the fall of Assad, saying that it does not want Islamist militants close to its borders, despite the fact that the United States and other nations recognize the new government led by Al-Sharaa.

• War
• Marco Rubio
• Israel
• Donald Trump
• Syria
• Middle East
• Damascus
• Benjamin Neta Nyahu