Israel Launches Airstrike Near Syrian Presidential Palace Amid Rising Tensions Over Druze Community
DAMASCUS/SWEIDA, Syria, May 2– Israel carried out an airstrike early Friday near the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus, marking one of its most overt military signals yet against Syria’s interim Islamist-led government and reinforcing its declared intent to protect the country’s Druze minority.
The strike comes amid an escalation in Israeli military operations following the December ousting of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebels. Since then, Israel has conducted a series of strikes across Syrian territory and deployed ground forces to the country’s southwest, while publicly advocating for a decentralized and isolated post-Assad Syria.
Friday’s strike targeted an area near the presidential compound of Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda affiliate, underscoring Israel’s deep distrust of his leadership. In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the attack served as “a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community.”
Syria’s presidency condemned the action, describing it as a “bombardment on the presidential palace” and warning that it represented a “dangerous escalation.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Razan Saffour criticized Israel’s motivations, writing on social media platform X that “Israel doesn't want peace” and suggesting the strike was not genuinely intended to protect minority groups.
The airstrike reportedly followed sectarian clashes between Sunni Muslim and Druze gunmen in areas surrounding the Syrian capital. The violence, which erupted over an alleged audio recording defaming the Prophet Mohammed, claimed over two dozen lives and spread southward into the Druze-majority province of Sweida.
According to a Syrian official, the Israeli strike hit approximately 100 meters east of the presidential palace perimeter. Earlier in the week, Israel launched a “warning strike” on a town near Damascus that killed a member of Syria’s security forces.
Efforts to defuse tensions are underway. On Thursday, Druze leaders and Syrian government officials met in Sweida, issuing a joint statement affirming the region’s unity with the Syrian state and rejecting secession. “Syria is our mother nation. We do not have an alternative country,” said Druze leader Sheikh Laith al-Balous in an interview with Syria TV. “We don’t need anyone’s protection,” he added, when asked about Israel's declared role in defending the Druze.
In the wake of recent clashes, Syrian security forces began patrols in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra, where residents had fled ongoing violence between Islamist militants and Druze defenders. Returning civilians reported looting of homes during their absence.
The United States, meanwhile, has condemned the recent violence against the Druze and renewed calls for an inclusive government in Syria. The conflict’s latest developments present a growing challenge for Sharaa, who has vowed to unite Syria’s fragmented military forces and rebuild national governance after more than a decade of civil war.
Israel has long expressed concerns over the presence of Syrian forces near its border and previously indicated its aim to enforce a demilitarized zone in the country’s southern regions, including Sweida province. The area is home to a significant Druze population, and Israel also hosts a small Druze minority within its borders, along with roughly 24,000 Druze in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights — territory seized from Syria in 1967 and unrecognized internationally.
Some Druze soldiers serving in the Israeli military have urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene on behalf of their counterparts in Syria, with reports indicating that “hundreds of fighters” were willing to volunteer. Netanyahu responded by urging the community to refrain from unilateral action and emphasized that state authorities would handle the situation.
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