Israel threatens new Syrian president and confirms strike on Damascus

Israel carried out an air strike on the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, as its defence minister threatened Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

“Wherever terror activity against Israel is organised, the extreme Islamic leader al-Jolani will find the Air Force aircraft flying above and striking terror targets,” Israel Katz said, using Sharaa’s former nom de guerre.

“Islamic terrorism will not have immunity in Damascus nor anywhere else.” 

Israel’s military said it was targeting what it described as a command centre belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which it said was used to direct “terrorist activities” against Israel.

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the claim. The strike took place in a residential area at the edge of Damascus, Syrian state media reported. 

A short video published by Israel’s military showed what appeared to be an explosion at the edge of a building followed by thick plumes of smoke.

The target of the strike was a Palestinian person, two Syrian security sources told Reuters. 

It was not immediately clear if anyone was wounded in the attack.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Israeli forces advanced into the countryside in Syria’s al-Quneitra region with tanks and military vehicles, detonating former military sites, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

Last month, Israel carried out a series of air strikes on what it said were military bases in Syria, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech demanding a “complete demilitarisation” of the country’s south. At least two were killed in the attacks. 

According to Syrian media, the strikes hit the town of Kiswah, south of Damascus, and several parts of the Daraa province.

During his speech last month, Netanyahu made specific reference to Syria’s Druze community, who live predominantly in the Sweida region.

“We will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria,” he said.

On Thursday, Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed it had sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in Syria over the past few weeks. 

Last week, Israel announced that it would let Syrian Druze workers apply for work permits to work in the occupied Golan Heights - an area already made up of a majority Syrian Druze population. 

Analysts have suggested that Israel’s overtures to the Druze community are part of attempts to divide Syria, which overthrew the decades-long rule of Bashar al-Assad in December. 

Israel has carried out heavy air strikes against Syrian military infrastructure since December, leaving the new administration - already battered from 14 years of civil war - with little capacity to respond militarily.