LIVE: Israel attacks Syria's Damascus amid fighting in Suwayda

Al Jazeera

16-07-2025

The Israeli army has launched air attacks on the Syrian Defence Ministry and near the presidential palace in the capital, Damascus, killing at least three and wounding 34.The strikes come after Israel threatened to increase attacks if Syrian government forces are not withdrawn from the south of the country where there has been fighting between Druze and security forces.In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, the Health Ministry says at least 21 people have been killed at a food distribution site of the controversial US- and Israeli-backed GHF.The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says one in 10 children screened in its clinics in Gaza are malnourished as Israel's siege on the triggers triggers a man-made starvation crisis.Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 58,573 people and wounded 139,607, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Update:
Date: 6m ago (17:45 GMT)
Title: WATCH: Severe malnutrition for 1 in 10 Gaza children
Content: The UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says one in 10 children under the age of five screened at its clinics in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition.
The grim figure comes as hunger surges because of Israel's blockade on humanitarian aid.
Update:
Date: 21m ago (17:30 GMT)
Title: Syria says Israeli attacks part of policy to 'ignite tension'
Content: Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli attacks on Damascus and Suwayda in the 'strongest terms' as air strikes killed three people and wounded 34 others.
'The attack is part of a systematic Israeli policy to ignite tension and chaos and undermine security in Syria. The Israeli aggression represents a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international humanitarian law,' a ministry statement said.
Syria holds Israel responsible for the escalation and reserves its 'right to defend our land and people through international law'.
It called on the international community and the UN Security Council to take 'urgent action' against repeated Israeli aggression.
Update:
Date: 31m ago (17:20 GMT)
Title: Israeli air strikes, shelling continue across besieged Gaza
Content: The Israeli military continues to attack Gaza from the north to the south of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
As we reported earlier, at least 21 aid seekers were killed while searching for food. Here are some of the other attacks:
Update:
Date: 41m ago (17:10 GMT)
Title: Attacks on Syria a pattern of Israeli aggression in the region
Content: Israel's attack on Syria reflects the 'adventurous wars' it has launched in the Middle East over the past few years, an analyst says.
'It's a clear message to the Syrian government that the Israelis are not going to be silent. The Israelis are not going to allow the Syrian government to spread its authority all over the territory,' said Ammar Kahf, executive director of Omran Center for Strategic Studies, who is based in Damascus.
With the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government and the infancy of a new one, Israel is trying to impose its will on the new leadership, he said.
'We are still in the early stages, but this requires all Syrians to come together. For a foreign government to come in and destroy public property and destroy safety and security is something that's unexplainable,' Kahf told Al Jazeera.
Update:
Date: 51m ago (17:00 GMT)
Title: Turkiye 'avoiding' direct confrontation with Israel over Syria
Content: Turkiye says it sees Israel's attacks as 'sabotage' against the new Syrian administration.
This is a critical issue, not only because Ankara is collaborating with the new Syrian government, assisting it in many ways, but it's also the long border shared between the two countries.
Some observers now speculate whether this will bring a potential direct confrontation between Turkiye and Israel.
But Ankara has been avoiding direct conflict despite issuing harsh criticism of the Israeli government, which is why Turkiye would prefer to talk to the US administration for mediation and to cool down the tension.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:50 GMT)
Title: Where do things stand on the Suwayda ceasefire?
Content:
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:40 GMT)
Title: LISTEN: Why is Israel escalating its strikes against Syria?
Content: Israel has attacked Syrian government forces in a wave of deadly air strikes, at the same time as violence has gripped the southern province of Suwayda. In the spotlight is Syria's Druze minority, also present in Israel.
In its latest episode, our podcast series The Take examines what the fighting might be spelling for Syria's future. Listen below:
In this episode:
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:30 GMT)
Title: At least 74 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today
Content: Medical sources in the Gaza Strip have told Al Jazeera the number of people killed so far today in Israeli attacks across the besieged and bombarded territory has risen to at least 74.
As we reported earlier, the grim toll includes at least 21 aid seekers.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:20 GMT)
Title: Photos: The aftermath of Israeli strikes on Syria's Defence Ministry
Content:
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:10 GMT)
Title: Israeli air attacks reported in Syria's Deraa, Suwayda
Content: We are getting reports of new Israeli air raids in the countryside of Deraa and Suwayda in Syria.
We'll bring you more as soon as we have it.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:05 GMT)
Title: US's Rubio expresses hope for 'real progress' to end Syria fighting soon
Content: We have some comments from Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, at the White House where US President Donald Trump is hosting Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
'It's complicated, obviously,' Rubio told reporters asking about the situation in Syria.
'These are historic longtime rivalries between different groups in the southwest of Syria – Bedouins, the Druze community – and it led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side,' he said.
Rubio added that the US has been 'engaged' with both sides.
'We think that we are on our way towards a real de-escalation and hopefully get back on track in helping Syria build a country and arriving at a situation there in the Middle East that's far more stable,' he said, expressing hope that in the next few hours there would be 'some real progress' to end the fighting.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (16:00 GMT)
Title: Israeli Ultra-Orthodox party quits as Netanyahu loses majority
Content: A key partner in Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition says it is quitting, leaving the Israeli prime minister with a minority in parliament.
The Ultra-Orthodox Shas party said it's leaving the government in response to a long-running dispute over mandatory military service. Another ultra-Orthodox party resigned from the government earlier this week.
Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu. But Shas said it wouldn't work to undermine the coalition once outside and could vote with it on some laws.
Read the full story here.
Update:
Date: 1h ago (15:55 GMT)
Title: Netanyahu needs war to appease coalition, disrupt corruption trial
Content: Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu is 'infatuated' with his wartime role and 'wants to maintain and perpetuate an atmosphere of war' for his political survival, an analyst says.
'There's Gaza, there's no ceasefire, there's Iran… Now there is Syria in the background,' said columnist and former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas.
Fighting a war on many fronts also helps appease far-right members of his coalition and adds another disruption to his ongoing corruption trial.
'Today he was testifying and asked the judges, which they agreed to, to suspend the trial because he had important national security issues to deal with,' Pinkas told Al Jazeera.
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:49 GMT)
Title: Death toll in Israeli attacks on Damascus rises
Content: Syria's Health Ministry says the number of people killed in the Israeli attacks on the capital has now risen to at least three, up from one earlier.
At least 34 other people were wounded, it added.
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:45 GMT)
Title: Israel doesn't want Syrian forces at 'deconfliction line'
Content: Haid Haid, consulting fellow at Chatham House, says Israel's attack on Damascus is 'not a complete surprise,' but targeting the Defence Ministry and the presidential palace is an escalation not seen before.
'Israel has been quite clear since the fall of the [Bashar al-Assad] regime in December that they don't want the forces affiliated with the new state in Syria to be deployed to the deconfliction line in southern Syria. And they have been trying to use different tactics in order to advance that objective,' Haid told Al Jazeera.
One way Israel is trying to advance that plan is to present itself as the 'protectors' of the Druze community, Haid said.
Syria is currently not in a position to retaliate against the attacks, he added, noting that when the interim government came to power, it said it wouldn't 'cause trouble for any of the actors in the region', and would instead focus on domestic issues.
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:40 GMT)
Title: WATCH: Who are the Druze and why is Israel bombing Syria to 'protect' them?
Content: You might have heard Israel has attacked Syria, saying that it wants to 'protect' the Druze minority community. So who are the Druze and what do they mean for Israel?
Our colleague Osama Bin Javaid explains it all in the video below:
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:30 GMT)
Title: No ceasefire with Syrian government, says another Druze leader
Content: We have a statement by Hikmat al-Hijri, a top Druze leader in southern Syria, rejecting the reported ceasefire.
'We affirm the continuation of the fight until the entire territory of As-Suwayda Governorate is liberated,' the statement said.
'There is no agreement, negotiation, or mandate with the Syrian government.'
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:25 GMT)
Title: Israel has not yet commented on reported Syria ceasefire
Content: Al Jazeera is reporting from Jordan because it has been banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank.
There is no word from the Israelis yet on the new ceasefire that was announced after the initial one on Tuesday collapsed.
But what Israeli officials have been saying over the last several days, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Israel Katz, is that they are doing this essentially to protect the Druze community in Syria.
But that's not all. They want this area in southern Syria, near their border, to be completely demilitarised.
Back in 2024 and early 2025 after the fall of Bashar al Assad's regime, the Israelis conducted pretty intricate and intense air strikes on all sorts of military positions, military munitions – anything the Syrian armed forces could potentially use moving forward, because they said they wanted the areas on their border to have no sort of military presence whatsoever.
But now, with these air strikes on Damascus, what Israeli officials are saying is they want to send a message to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa that they're not going to tolerate any violence towards the Druze.
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:20 GMT)
Title: Number of wounded people in Israeli attacks on Damascus rises
Content: The number of casualties continues to rise after the Israeli attacks earlier on Damascus.
According to Syria's Health Ministry, one person was killed and 28 others were wounded in the attacks.
Update:
Date: 2h ago (15:17 GMT)
Title: Syria's Interior Ministry releases details on Suwayda ceasefire deal
Content: Syria's state media has published an Interior Ministry statement about the ceasefire deal, announcing: