Overview

• On July 16, the IDF struck the entrance gate of Syria’s Defense Ministry compound in Damascus, marking its first direct attack on the regime’s military headquarters since Assad’s ouster.
• The Damascus strike followed the breakdown of a fragile ceasefire in Sweida province, where clashes between Druze militias, Bedouin tribes and government forces have killed more than 250 people.
• Israel says it launched the high-profile airstrike to protect Syria’s Druze minority and will sustain border operations until regime troops withdraw from Druze areas near the Golan Heights.
• Syria’s interim Defense Ministry accused Druze fighters of violating the truce and said its forces were acting under strict engagement rules to defend residents.
• Reports of extrajudicial killings, widespread looting and forced shaving of Druze men’s facial hair by government units underscored the community’s grievances against the new regime.