DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM – Powerful airstrikes shook Damascus on Wednesday, targeting the defense ministry as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

Reuters reporters heard warplanes swoop low over the capital and unleash a series of massive strikes on central Damascus. The cityscape was blanketed in smoke with a thick plume rising from the defense ministry.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on powerful strikes that hit in the mid-afternoon, which Syrian state media said were carried out by Israel.

The Israeli military had earlier announced a strike on the gate of the defense ministry. Shortly before the massive blasts, Defense Minister Israel Katz had said “painful blows will come”.

Scores of people have been killed this week in violence around the southern city of Sweida, pitting fighters from the Druze minority against government security forces and members of Bedouin tribes, prompting Israel to strike repeatedly with the declared aim of protecting the Druze.

“We are surrounded and we hear the fighters screaming … we’re so scared,” said a resident of Sweida, a predominantly Druze city, who was reached by phone.

The crack of gunfire interspersed by booms could be heard in the background. “We’re trying to keep the children quiet so that no one can hear us,” the man added, asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

The violence has underlined big challenges facing interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa despite warming ties with the United States, as he seeks to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that reject Islamist rule.

Syrian government troops were dispatched to the Sweida region on Monday to quell fighting between Druze fighters and Bedouin armed men but ended up clashing with the Druze militias themselves.

Druze are followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam and are spread between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Druze in Israel have been calling on the Israeli military to protect Druze in Syria.

A Druze spiritual leader said on Tuesday his community was being subjected to a barbaric attack by government forces. The government says outlawed gangs are responsible for the violence.

Earlier, security sources within Syria‘s defense ministry told Reuters that at least two drone strikes had hit the building and that officers took cover in the basement. State-owned Elekhbariya TV said the strike wounded two civilians.

The Israeli military said it had “struck the entrance gate of the Syrian regime’s military headquarters complex” in Damascus.

The Israeli military said it also continued to strike “Syrian regime” targets in southern Syria, including tanks, and pickup trucks mounted with machine guns heading towards Sweida.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that 169 people had been killed in this week’s violence. Security sources put the toll at 300. Reuters could not independently verify the tolls.

Calls for Help

Following calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who crossed the border.

Israel, which bombed Syria regularly when it was ruled by ousted President Bashar al-Assad, has demanded the new Islamist authorities keep forces out of southern Syria. It has vowed to protect the Druze and has sent Israeli troops into Syrian territory adjoining the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

U.S. Syria envoy Tom Barrack, who has praised Syria‘s new rulers and declared in May that peace was possible between Syria and Israel, said on Tuesday that Washington was in contact with all sides “to navigate towards calm and integration”.

News outlet Sweida24 said Sweida and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire early on Wednesday.

The defense ministry called on residents of the city to stay indoors. On Tuesday, a Reuters reporter said they had seen government forces looting and burning homes and stealing cars and furniture in Sweida. One man showed the reporter the body of his brother who had been shot in the head inside their home.

A Syrian government statement on Wednesday said those responsible for lawlessness in Sweida would be held accountable. It said the government was committed to protecting the rights of the people in Sweida.

Sharaa has repeatedly promised to protect minorities.

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(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi in Damascus, Maya Gebeily, Yamam al-Shaar and Laila Bassam in Beirut, Steven Scheer in Jerusalem, Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Writing by Maya Gebeily and Tom Perry; Editing by Alex Richardson, Andrew Cawthorne and Ros Russell)