Israel bombs Syrian military HQ; Netanyahu loses majority in Parl

Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the Islamist-led administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and came despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.

Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has said it won’t let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area’s Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze minority.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the situation as “complicated” but said it looked like a “misunderstanding”. He said he thought progress towards de-escalation would be made within hours.

Scores of people have been killed this week in violence in and around the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, pitting fighters from the Druze minority against government security forces and members of Bedouin tribes.

Meanwhile in Israel, a key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in parliament.

The Shas ultra-Orthodox party said it was leaving over disagreements surrounding a proposed law meant to grant wide military draft exemptions to its constituents. A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue.

Leading a minority government would make governing a challenge for Netanyahu. But Shas said it wouldn’t work to undermine the coalition.

The political turmoil comes as Israel and Hamas are negotiating on a US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza. While the shakeup in Netanyahu's government won’t necessarily derail the talks, the Israeli leader will be more susceptible to the demands of his far-right coalition partners, who oppose ending the 21-month war while Hamas remains intact.

In Gaza, twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution centre run by an Israeli-backed American organisation in the Gaza Strip, mostly from being trampled, the group said. They were the first deaths reported at one of the group’s sites.