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The Israeli military struck the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus and the government forces in southern Syria on Wednesday, as deadly sectarian battles in the most Druza Suvida province continued for the fourth day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces “work to save our Druz brothers and to remove the regime gangs.” The Syrian Foreign Ministry has accused Israel of insidious aggression.

More than 300 people have been reported to have been killed in Subitida since Sunday, when clashes between Druze Militias and Bedouin tribes erupted.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was “very worried” by the violence of the south, but believes it will end within hours.

“We have agreed on specific steps that will put this anxious and terrifying situation tonight,” he wrote on X on Wednesday night.

The Syria Foreign Ministry said the country was welcoming the efforts made by the US and the Arab countries “to resolve the current crisis” calmly.

Israel has not yet commented on the offer to end the fire.

Syrian troops have begun to withdraw from Subitida, according to the State News Agency in Syria Sana.

It states that the military is leaving the city as part of an agreement between the Syrian government and the religious leaders of Suwis after “the end of the army’s desire for groups out of law.”

The Israeli military began to strike the Syrian security forces and their weapons on Monday after they were located in the city of Soveid for the first time after December, led by Islamist Islamist, Bashar al -Assad in December.

BBC map showing Syria, Israel, the occupied Golan heights and the city of Suwis

Syria’s temporary president Ahmed al -Sharaa has promised to hold those who “transgressed and abused our people Druze” at a television address on Thursday.

“We reject every attempt to entice you into the hands of the outside,” he said, calling their protection “our priority.”

“We are not among those who are afraid of the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.

Groups of minorities, including the druza – whose religion is a shoot of Shiite Islam with their own unique identity and beliefs – are suspicious of temporary President Ahmed al -Sharaa and his government, despite their promises to protect them.

Their fears have been strengthened by several outbreaks of sectarian violence over the last eight months, including one in May, reporting that dozens of people have been killed in clashes between Druz, security forces and allied Islamist fighters in Damascus and Sveta.

As a result of this battle, the government has reached an agreement with Druze Militias to hire local security forces in the province of Suweida from their ranks.

Netanyahu said he was committed to preventing the harm of Syria for their deep ties with Israel residents and Israeli’s heights.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on Wednesday afternoon that “Damascus Warings” have ended and that the Israeli military will “continue to act vigorously in Subita to destroy the forces that attacked the friend until they are completely withdrawn.”

Later, he published that “painful strokes have started” over a video shown A television presenter who dives under the camera’s live desk as the Israeli air strike struck a nearby entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense In Umayad Square, in the central Damascus.

Fadi al Halabi, a Syrian director based in London to visit Damascus, said he was nearby when he heard the approach of Israeli fighter jets.

“People’s faces were so afraid. Everyone started running (on) the street. No one knew where to go. Suddenly, air strikes (s) began to be targeted at some of the most pre-populated areas, including the Ministry of Defense,” he told the BBC.

The Israeli military said it also achieved a “military goal in the area” of the Presidential Palace in the capital, as well as armored vehicles loaded with heavy machine guns and weapons on the way to Subitida, and shooting on posts and storage facilities in southern Syria.

The Syria Foreign Ministry said strikes were aimed at government institutions and civilian facilities in Damascus and Suwis and killed several innocent civilians.

“This obvious attack, which is part of a deliberate policy carried out by the Israeli entity to ignite tensions, spread chaos and undermine security and stability in Syria, is a gross violation of the United Nations and International Humanitarian Law,” added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), based in the UK monitoring group, in the meantime, reported that the humanitarian situation in the city of Soveid was rapidly deteriorating.

He quoted sources that there are clashes in several areas of the city and that tanks have attacked the National Hospital, causing panic among the dozens of victims of the battles that are being treated there. They also said there was a sharp shortage of water and medical supplies.

Later, the Syrian Health Ministry said that the government forces had entered the hospital and discovered “dozens of bodies” after “outlawed law withdrew”, according to the official SANA agency.

A man named Hosma told the BBC that he was in the center of the city of Subitida and witnessed civilians who fall under the firing of artillery and snipers.

“I lost my neighbor today on the street. One of the sniper shot him. We tried to (get) an ambulance (to take him) to the hospital, but we couldn’t,” he said.

Sohr says more than 300 people have been killed Sunday in Suweida.

These include 69 friend fighters and 40 civilians, 27 of whom were summarized by the ministry’s internal ministerial and defense forces, according to the group.

At least 165 government members and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters were also killed in clashes, while 10 government members were killed in Israeli strike, the statement said.

The BBC is not able to check the data on SOHR victims.

Reuters Syrian Security Forces celebrate by raising their rifles during clashes with Druza fighters in the city of Subitis, southern Syria (July 16, 2025)Reuters

Syrian Interior Ministry said

It is alleged that the fight between Bedouin tribes and Druz’s militias in Suvida were caused by the abduction of a Druzi dealer on the highway until Damascus last Friday.

On Sunday, it is reported that the Armed Fighters of Druza have enveloped and later seized a neighborhood of the city of Subitida, which is inhabited by Bedouin. The clashes soon spread to other parts of the province of Subitida, with tribes according to tribes launching attacks against nearby cities and villages of Druz.

Later, the Interior Ministry of Syria has announced that its forces and those of the Ministry of Defense will intervene and impose an order, stating that “the dangerous escalation comes in the light of the lack of relevant official institutions.”

Earlier this year, Israel’s Prime Minister demanded the complete demilitarization of Suweida and two other southern provinces. He said Israel saw the Sunni Islamist group of President Sharaa, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) as a threat. HTS is a former al -Qaeda branch, which is still defined as a UN and UK terrorist organization, but no longer from the United States.

The Israeli military has already committed hundreds of strikes in Syria to destroy the country’s military assets after the fall of the Assad regime.

And she sent troops to the non-observed demilitarized buffer zone between the occupied Golan heights and Syria, as well as several neighboring areas and the top of Mount Hermon.

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