Today the Israeli air force bombed the capital of Syria, Damascus.
In late November 2024 al-Qaeda in Syria under former ISIS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani (aka Ahmed al-Sharaa) set off to oust the Syrian government. He was backed by Qatar (financially), Turkey (militarily), the U.S. (intelligence wise) and Israel (propaganda).
After more than 11 years of war the Syria army was in a bad state. Pay was low while prices had risen sky high under sanctions. Many officers had been bribed by Qatar to stay put or change sides.
The Russian air force intervened against the Jihadi onslaught but, with no forces on the ground, could not stop their advances. Shia militia send by Iran from Iraq were bombed by U.S. jets while crossing the border. Eventually President Assad found that there was no army left to command and fled. The Syrian government broke down. The Jihadis conquered Damascus and have since ruled the country.
Syrian resistance against Israel ceased. Israel has since bombed what was left of the Syrian armies heavy equipment and missile forces. The country is no longer able to defend itself.
There are about 700,000 Druze living in Syria, southeast of Damascus, and in the Israel occupied Golan Heights. The Druze religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam but generally not accepted as Muslim.
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After al-Qaeda took power in Syria the Israel army took additional Syrian territory near the Golan heights. It has tried to pull the Druze to its side:
Following the fall of the Assad regime, news were shared on social media to claim that the Druze population living in Hader, Quneitra Governorate of wishing to be under Israeli rule. This information, based on a non-verified video showing one individual expressing his opinion in a public gathering, has been repeated by mainstream media. The local leaders recorded a collective announcement on December 13, 2024, to deny these allegations and to denounce the Israeli occupation of their village. Syrian Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri denounced the Israeli invasion of Syria, stressing the need to maintain support for Syria's "social and territorial unity".
Throughout the last week there was increased strife between Jihadi Syrian government forces and Druze militia. Both sides had losses. The Israeli army intervened by bombing heavier equipment the Syrian government tried to bring near to the contact line.
There is no doubt that the strife between the Druze and Jihadis was provoked by Israel to proceed with its strategic plans of taking more land in Syria and Lebanon.
Michael A. Horowitz @michaelh992 – 12:22 UTC · Jul 16, 2025
Israel's Defense Minister:
"The signaling in Damascus is over, now come the painful blows,”"The IDF will continue to operate forcefully in Suweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until their full withdrawal.”
"Our Druze brothers in Israel: You can count on the Israel Defense Forces to protect your brothers in Syria. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I, as defense minister, have made a commitment, and we will uphold it,"
Today the Israeli air forces dropped bombs on the Syrian Ministry of Defense, near the presidential palace and in the Umayyad Square in the center of Damascus.
Yossi Melman @yossi_melman – 14:05 UTC · Jul 16, 2025
Translated from Hebrew by GrokTo the best of my recollection, the last time the air force attacked the Syrian army’s general staff compound was during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Today’s double strike was particularly powerful.
It’s hard to understand why Israel is intervening so deeply in Syria. With all due respect to the Druze community in Israel, which is outraged about the clashes between regime forces and the Druze—who, by the way, are themselves divided on whether Israel should intervene in the matter at all.
The answer may lie in the fact that Israel can, and is acting like the neighborhood bully. This, of course, reinforces the idea of Netanyahu, Katz, Likud, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich’s eternal war.
The real aim of the Israeli government is not to protect the Druze or even to subjugate the Jihadi government of Syria.
These are the opening shots of a war between the rivaling powers of the Zionist entity and Turkey:
As the distribution of power shifts in the region, with Iran losing relative power and Israel and Turkey emerging on top, an intensified rivalry between Tel Aviv and Ankara is not a question of if, but how. It is not a question of whether they choose the rivalry, but how they choose to react to it: through confrontation or peaceful management.
…
[A]s long as Israel believes its security can only come through militarily dominating all its neighbors that can pose a challenge to it — that is, those who have the capacity to do so regardless of whether they have the intent or not — then Turkey's emergence as a major power in the region will put it into Israel's crosshairs, whether it likes it or not.The forces of geopolitics cannot be eliminated. They can at best only be tamed.
Today Israel provided that the favored way of managing the rivalry with Turkey is by bombing its clients.
Ankara ain't happy with that:
Ragıp Soylu @ragipsoylu – 12:49 UTC · Jul 16, 2025
Turkish Foreign Ministry:
“Israeli attacks on central Damascus are an attempt to sabotage Syria's efforts to establish peace, stability, and security.
All stakeholders who support this opportunity should contribute to the Syrian Government's efforts to establish peace.”
Today's Syria is a client state of Turkey with al-Julani being the Turkish controlled regent.
While Turkey's wannabe Sultan Erdogan has publicly spoken out against Israel's genocide in Gaza he has silently cooperated with it by providing oil and other goods.
He probably thought that he could profit from the relation while ignoring the rivalry which is caused by the strategic expansion into the Levant both, Turkey and Israel, are seeking.
Today's strikes on Damascus might change his calculation.