Israel strikes Syrian presidential palace area, army HQ in Damascus

A damaged car is seen after Israel struck the Syrian Army General Command and the Defense Ministry compound in Umayyad Square in central Damascus, Syria, July 16, 2025. (Str/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli warplanes intensified their air campaign across southern Syria on Wednesday, striking the Syrian Army General Command headquarters and the presidential palace area in central Damascus.

The Syrian health authorities said one civilian was killed, and 18 others injured in the strikes on the capital, which included at least five separate air raids targeting central Damascus. Footage aired on local TV showed smoke billowing from Umayyad Square, where the army's main command building is located.

Smoke is seen near the Syrian Army General Command headquarters in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said parts of the headquarters and the defense authorities were destroyed, and additional strikes hit buildings in the upscale al-Malki neighborhood and near the Tishreen Palace. The fate of senior officials inside the facilities remained unknown.

An Israeli military spokesperson confirmed the operation, saying that "the military headquarters in Damascus is the location from which Syrian regime commanders direct combat operations and deploy regime forces to the Sweida area."

In a statement, the spokesperson added that also "a military target in the area of the Syrian regime's presidential palace in Damascus was struck."

A fire truck is seen near a structure damaged in an Israeli airstrike at the Syrian Army General Command headquarters in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

In southern Syria, Israeli strikes also targeted government forces' convoys and positions in Sweida province, killing at least three senior officers in the village of al-Majimer, according to the observatory. Earlier raids in the region had killed at least seven others, bringing the total toll among government forces to 10.

Additional air raids late Wednesday struck multiple locations in and around Daraa city, including the governor's palace, the military intelligence branch, and the civil registry office, the observatory said. Further strikes hit the 189th regiment in Jabab and the 132nd brigade west of Daraa, prompting ambulances to rush to the scene.

In the Damascus countryside, Israeli jets also bombed the town of al-Kiswah, though no casualties were immediately reported.

Photo taken on July 16, 2025 shows a building of the Syrian Army General Command headquarters damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

The strikes came after the collapse of a ceasefire between Syrian government forces and armed Druze groups in Sweida, the heartland of the Druze community in Syria. The war monitor said at least 248 people have been killed in the area since Sunday.

The Druze are a religious and ethnic minority originating from Islam, living primarily in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, with smaller communities in Jordan and elsewhere.

Israel carried out several waves of strikes in Damascus and Sweida, with the stated aim of preventing the Druze minority from being harmed.