‘Clear message to Syrian regime’ – Amid reports of continued violence against Druze, IDF strikes near presidential palace in Damascus

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike near the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, early on Friday morning amid reports of continuing violence against the Druze community. 

“A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus,” the IDF said in a statement on Friday morning. 

In a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike sent a “clear message to the Syrian regime.”

“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” the statement read. 

Later in the day, Netanyahu met with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel. 

According to a statement released by Netanyahu’s office, Sheikh Tarif thanked the Israeli leader for “his directive to take strong action to protect the Druze in Syria in recent days, including the Prime Minister's decision last night to strike the Presidential Palace compound in Damascus.” 

Sheikh Tarif stated that the decisive actions directed by the prime minister have sent a strong deterrent message to the Syrian regime about Israel’s commitment to protecting the Druze community in Syria.

Tarif also condemned the recent violence during protests in northern Israel's Druze communities over the situation in Syria. 

Tarif told Netanyahu that Druze community leaders “condemned the displays of violence and violations of the law by members of the community,” and assured him that the Druze community would continue to respect the laws of the state. 

Katz posted a message about the strike on 𝕏: “The Air Force attack last night on the presidential palace in Damascus, which the Prime Minister and I directed, is a clear warning message to the Syrian regime.” 

“When Joulani [al-Sharaa] wakes up in the morning and sees the results of the Israeli Air Force jet attack, he will understand very well that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria.” 

Within the last hour, the Israeli Air Force launched a precision-airstrike meters away from the Presidential Palace in Damascus, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating following the strike, “This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow a… pic.twitter.com/lJFQvgj2iS

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 2, 2025

There have been heightened tensions between the Druze communities and the new Syrian regime in recent days. Tensions escalated into clashes between Druze residents in several neighborhoods south of Damascus in recent days, prompting Israel to strike multiple targets as a warning to the Syrian government that it would not tolerate violence against the Druze community. However, various reports of violence against Druze residents in towns south of Damascus have continued in recent days. 

While the government announced it would send soldiers to restore calm, some Druze have accused those forces of attacking and killing several Druze in the area over the religious differences between the Druze and the Sunni Muslims. 

A report in the Lebanese website The National, citing local reports, stated that the mayor of the Sahnaya (a mostly Druze town near Damascus) and his son were shot dead, hours after forces from the Syrian Defense Ministry entered the area. 

Local news site Suwayda24 reported that the mayor of Sahnaya, Hussam Warour, and his only son, Haidar, were shot dead on Thursday night by gunmen who broke into his home. 

The news site also reported that security forces confirmed that the entire area has been under the control of the General Security Service and its allied factions since Wednesday afternoon. 

🚨🇸🇨🇸🇾 Field Execution of Sahnaya’s Mayor

The mayor of Sahnaya, Hussam Warwar, and his only son, Haider Warwar, were executed on the spot by firing squad, reportedly by #HTS militants.

Hussam Warwar appeared just yesterday in the attached video (wearing a light blue shirt),… pic.twitter.com/xHXLrPbnmn

— Syrian Coast Monitor (@CoastSyrianMoni) May 1, 2025

On Wednesday, the Syrian government announced a truce agreement in Jaramana and Sahnaya following meetings between Druze representatives and government officials. 

On Thursday evening, after a meeting consisting of many Druze religious, civil, and community leaders in the Suwayda Governorate of Southwestern Syria, the leaders released a statement swearing loyalty to a unified Syria led by the government in Damascus, rejecting any violence by rebel or extremist groups, and accepting forces of the Syrian Interior Ministry. 

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a significant spiritual leader in the Druze community in Syria, reportedly attended the meeting but left before the statement was read. Some sources report that Sheikh al-Hijri may have left early in protest of another leader’s decision to pledge allegiance to the government in Damascus. Certain members of the Syrian Druze community prefer to distance themselves from the regime and have appealed to the Israeli government for protection.

Following that meeting, Sheik al-Hijri was quoted by The National as saying, “We no longer trust an entity pretending to be a government ... because the government does not kill its people through its extremist militias ... and then claim they were unruly elements after the massacres. The government [should] protect its people.”