Ceasefire in Syria follows Israel’s bombing of Damascus

Syria and the leaders of the Druze religious minority signed a ceasefire agreement Wednesday following Israeli airstrikes in Damascus. 

The ceasefire was announced Wednesday on Syrian state TV by Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou. The deal is the second of its kind in as many days, with the previous ceasefire falling apart shortly after it was announced on Tuesday.

The latest announcement came immediately after Israel’s bombing of downtown Damascus, the Syrian capital.

According to the Israeli military, the bombing hit Syria’s military infrastructure, including the general staff compound in Damascus. Israel also reportedly hit Syria’s presidential palace.

“From the General Staff compound in Damascus, Syrian regime commanders manage the fighting and dispatch regime forces to the As-Suwayda area,” the Israeli Defense Forces wrote in Hebrew on X. “The IDF continues to monitor developments and activities against the Druze civilians in southern Syria and, in accordance with the directives of the political echelon, strikes in the area and is prepared for various scenarios.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the strikes in an X post on Wednesday, attaching a video of a Syrian news report reacting to the bombing.

“The painful blows have begun,” he wrote.

The Syrian Health Ministry confirmed that at least three people were killed and 34 injured.

The government of Syria pressed for peace on Wednesday in a statement calling for an end to violence in Sweida, also known as Suwayda. 

“The Syrian state condemns the violations against our people in Suwayda and pledges to hold those responsible accountable,” the regime posted on X.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. special envoy to Syria, echoed the government’s statement, urging all parties to “step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire.”

Wednesday’s airstrikes follow two days of conflict in Syria’s Sweida province, where government and Bedouin forces have clashed with Druze militia over their resistance to disarmament. The Druze minority is concentrated in the southern provinces of Syria, neighboring the Golan Heights, a hub of the Israeli military. 

Both sides reached a ceasefire on Tuesday that fell apart when Syrian forces fired on Druze militia in the southern province. The government blamed Druze forces for violating the ceasefire first.

Israel has vowed to protect the Druze in southern Syria, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring on Tuesday that his country is “committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria due to the deep brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel, and their familial and historical ties to the Druze in Syria.”

Approximately 150,000 Druze religious minorities live in Israel proper and serve in the Israeli military.

Additionally, Israel has demanded that Syria implement a demilitarized zone in the south, an order the new regime has rejected. Syrian leaders have also criticized the Israeli military for its occupation of the Golan Heights, which it sees as sovereign Syrian territory.

Since taking power this year, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has tried to consolidate his country’s ethnic and religious groups to support the new regime. However, the Druze have refused to disarm their militias and have insisted on maintaining relative independence.

Sunni Bedouin tribes have repeatedly clashed with Druze militia over the past few months, with the Syrian military intervening initially to restore peace before clashing with Druze forces.