Claim comes after Syria’s president orders a truce in the restive province and US brokers deal to end Israeli strikes.

For weeks, Israel has engaged in back-channel talks over a diplomatic agreement with the Syrian government. Its strikes on Damascus this week highlight a lack of strategic clarity.

Republican congressman and Israel caucus co-chair Joe Wilson rebukes Israeli military strikes on Syria, calling them insulting to Trump's recent diplomatic efforts in the region.

“The Israeli Druze are now trying to use that and urge the Israeli government to protect fellow Druze in Syria,” he said, explaining, in part, the justification for Israel’s strikes on Syria, where the Druze community has traditionally been anti-Israel, even as some leaders grow closer to Israel.

Syria TV has released footage of the moment its Damascus studio captured an Israeli strike on the Syrian Defense Ministry.

Syria TV initially released the footage from a live broadcast at its Damascus studio. A Syrian television news anchor could be seen running off camera after Israeli strikes hit Defense Ministry building in footage circulating online. Syria TV initially released the footage from a live broadcast at its Damascus studio on Wednesday.

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

Israel launches major airstrikes on the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus, citing the need to protect civilians. These strikes come after weeks of violence by Syrian forces against minorities near the Israeli border.

There have been further clashes in Syria's Suweida province where gunmen from the Bedouin community have continued to target the Druze minority in defiance of a ceasefire. Also today: another twist in the complex relationship between Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump;