The Israeli Army on Wednesday said it struck a "military target" in the area of Syria's presidential palace in Damascus on Wednesday, after earlier announcing it had hit the military headquarters in the capital.
Meanwhile, a video went viral on social media that showed an anchor abruptly fleeing the frame during a live broadcast on Syria's state-run television as Israeli airstrikes struck the state TV building in central Damascus.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that the phase of giving warnings in Damascus is over, and “painful blows” will follow. He added that the Israeli military will keep acting “forcefully” in Suweida.
The bombing by Israel came after its warning to the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland, where a war monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people.
Syrian government forces on Tuesday entered the majority-Druze city of Sweida, in the country's south, with the stated aim of overseeing a ceasefire agreed with Druze community leaders after clashes with local Bedouin tribes left dozens dead.
However, witnesses reported that the government forces joined with the Bedouin in attacking Druze fighters and civilians in a bloody rampage through the city.
The fighting marks the most serious outbreak of violence in Syria since government forces battled Druze fighters in Sweida province and near Damascus in April and May leaving more than 100 people dead.
The Islamist-led authorities have had strained relations with Syria's patchwork of religious and ethnic minorities since they toppled longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December.
Israel has presented itself as a defender of the Druze, although some analysts say that is a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces as far from the border as possible.
Syrian state TV reported several Israeli strikes on Wednesday near the army and defence ministry headquarters in central Damascus, and Israel's military said it had "struck the entrance of the Syrian regime's military headquarters".
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