"The heavy blows have started" Israel's defense minister Israel Katz has posted to X above a video (below) showing a Syrian news presenter abruptly taking shelter after a massive explosion in central Damascus.
The rare daytime aerial attack by Israel in the heart of Damascus created panic in the streets, and quickly after huge columns of smoke lingered over the downtown area. There are casualties, with state news agency SANA quoting the Health Ministry as saying that at least three were killed and nine people wounded in the Israeli attacks.
Eyewitnesses say they saw Israeli warplanes circling above the capital city, and that there were at least three to four strikes. Syria has no air defense systems to speak of, after Bashar al-Assad's December 8 ouster and subsequent heavy Israeli bombings of all remaining Syrian military equipment.
The large-scale attack, which could see more to follow, has been roundly condemned by Syria's regional partners who are trying to prop up the new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham government under self-declared interim President Sharaa (Jolani).
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli attacks as an attempt to "sabotage Syria’s efforts to ensure peace." The Syrian people have a "historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world," the statement continued.
Footage of Israel attacking Damascus:
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has also condemned these new attacks on Damascus in the "strongest terms" - saying the air assault represented a "flagrant violation" of Syria’s sovereignty, "a breach of international laws and norms, and a serious threat to regional security and stability."
The statement further described this as an "irresponsible escalation" which threatens sought-after stability in Syria.
Israel is framing its actions as in protection of the Druze (an ancient ethno-religious minority community in region), which have come under sectarian attack by Jolani's HTS forces.
In southern Syria, jihadists have filmed themselves torturing and forcibly shaving the mustaches of prominent Druze clerics and other men. Facial hair in the Druze religion is considered sacred and is highly symbolic.
Israel's military has long used sectarian tension inside Syria as part of a 'divide and rule' strategy. Immediately after Assad's fall, the IDF send tanks and ground units deep into southern Syria.
Christians are also heavily present in the south, and they are under direct threat as well, but Israel has not invoked 'protection of Christians' as having anything to do with its policy...
Syria's new "liberators" continue to show their true colors, but also bearing immense responsibility for this are the Gulf states, the United States, and Western countries who had long armed and trained these al-Qaeda fanatics in the first place, as part of the regime change operation against Assad.