At least two drone attacks hit the building and servers were housing in the basement
SAO PAULO, SP (Folhapress)-Israel hit the presidential palace in Damascus on Wednesday (16), third consecutive day of attacks by the Army of Tel Aviv. The offensive increases tension in the country, the scene of fighting between Drusos and Bedouins who have killed 248 people since last Sunday (13).
Employees of the Syrian Ministry of Defense, who was also bombarded by Tel Aviv, told Reuters news agency that at least two drone attacks hit the building and that the servers were housing in the basement. According to state broadcaster Elekhbariya, the bombing injured two civilians.
The Israeli army said that it had “attacked the gate of the Syrian regime’s military headquarters” in Damascus and continued to “monitor the developments and actions being taken against Drudos civilians in southern Syria” – the Jewish state justifies bombing with the declared objective of protecting the minority from government forces.
The Druses, whose religion derives from Shiite Islam, are an important minority of the Middle East – they are present in Lebanon, southern Syria and Golhan hills, a Syrian area occupied by Israel since the six -day war in 1967 and the scene of chaotic scenes after the clashes.
This Wednesday, by the way, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked the Druses not to cross the border towards Syria. “You are risking your lives; you can be murdered, kidnapped and are harming the efforts of the Israeli army. So I ask you: go back to your homes,” he said.
The group is one of many that form the ethnically diverse population of Syria, currently governed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former member of a group linked to the Islamic State and the al Qaeda who took power after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. Since then, he has been trying to minimize his jihadist past and convince the international community that he will ensure good coexistence among the minorities of the country.
The promise, however, is put in check by episodes such as March, when a wave of violence killed 1,600 civilians – most of Alauítas, in an apparent retaliation for an earlier attack by Assad supporters, which was part of this ethnic group – and last week, who opposed Drudos and Beduinos.
Syrian state media and witnesses said that Israeli attacks throughout Wednesday also hit the predominantly Druse city of Sweida, where a fourth day of fighting knocked a fragile ceasefire announced the night before. In a statement, the Syrian Ministry of Defense blamed groups out of law in the region for violating the truce.
The Israeli offensive made the European Union ask “all external actors” respect for Syria’s sovereignty. In a statement, the bloc also claimed to be alarmed by confrontations, demanding the protection of the civilian population and the end of “the discourse of hate and sectarian rhetoric”.
By Monday (14), the Syrian government had already sent troops to the Sweida region to contain the fighting between Druses and Bedouins, but ended up confrontation with the Drudy Militias. The local news vehicle Sweida24 said the city and nearby villages were under intense artillery and mortar fire early this Wednesday.
According to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, a UK -based NGO, at least 248 people have died in the Syrian province of Sweida so far. The balance includes 92 members of the Drusian minority, which has a strong presence in the region, 138 security forces agents and 18 Bedouin combatants. Among the victims would still be 28 civilians, of which 21 were summarily executed by government forces, according to the organization.
