Israel on 16 July attacked the entrance to the Syrian General Staff building in Damascus with a drone amid a worsening situation in the country. The Israeli army says it is attacking government forces to protect friends in Syria. More than 200 people have already been killed in clashes between friends and Bedouins and the subsequent attack by the Syrian military.
On 15 July, the Syrian military entered the southern city of Al-Suwayda, where clashes between Druze and Bedouins erupted. The unrest left more than 30 people dead and about 100 injured, according to the Syrian Interior Ministry. The death toll rose to 248 after troops moved in, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, one of the leaders of the Druze minority, accused the Syrian government of violating the truce and bombing the city. The Syrian military says it is only returning fire.
The Israel Defence Forces launched strikes against the Syrian military in the Al-Suweida region on July 15. The military said in a statement that Israel is “committed to preventing harm to the Druze” in Syria through “a deep fraternal alliance with our friendly fellow citizens in Israel.”
On 16 July, the Israeli military was involved in clashes on the border between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syria. Dozens of Druze are reportedly trying to make their way into Israeli-controlled territory, while at the same time hundreds of Druze living in the Golan are trying to make their way in the opposite direction, protesting against the Syrian authorities.
The Times of Israel reports that the Israeli military used tear gas to drive away friends living in the annexed region to prevent them from making their way into Syria.