The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that Israel targeted a building in the Mashoura Dummar neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, with an airstrike on March 13. The attack wounded three people and damaged several buildings, according to SANA. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement confirming the attack, saying it targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) command center. PIJ used the command center to orchestrate terrorist attacks against Israel, the IDF stated.
The Jerusalem Post, citing “defense sources,” reported that Israel carried out the strike against the group because it was planning attacks against the Jewish state.
Following the event, PIJ spokesperson Muhammad al Haj Mousa denied that Israel attacked a command center belonging to the organization, saying that the site was an “empty building.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a statement confirming the attack. He warned Syria’s interim president, Ahmad Sharaa, that Israel would not tolerate terrorist activity aimed against the country. Notably, Katz referred to Sharaa by his nom de guerre, “[Abu Mohammad] al Jolani,” which Sharaa has avoided using since assuming leadership in Syria after the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in December. Sharaa remains a US specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) for the groups he has led: Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and Al Nusrah, both US-designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
“Wherever terror activity against Israel is organized, the extreme Islamic leader al-Jolani will find the Air Force aircraft flying above and striking terror targets,” Katz said.
Katz’s statement builds on previous Israeli statements and military operations that reflect Jerusalem’s developing policy toward Syria. In the last three months, Israel has targeted various former and current Syrian regime military sites and security threats, including PIJ and Hamas infrastructure in Syria.
On March 13, Israel’s N12 news reported that Israel thwarted a plot orchestrated by Hamas in southern Syria to attack Israeli communities in the Golan Heights. The report said the Israeli Air Force struck weapons depots and infrastructure associated with Hamas during the overnight hours of March 11 and 12. Israel subsequently warned the Sharaa government that it would “not be immune from an Israeli response” if terrorist activity against the Jewish state continued in Syrian territory.
Since the fall of the Assad regime to HTS and its allies in December 2024, the IDF has taken control of a UN-monitored demilitarized zone along Syria’s border with Israel. On February 23, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would not permit rebel forces or “the new Syrian army” to enter the area south of Damascus, insisting on the complete demilitarization of the southern provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and Suwayda.
Israel is closely observing instability in Syria while preparing for and taking action against security threats stemming from the country. Forces affiliated with the new Syrian regime have recently been accused of carrying out sectarian killings against Alawites and other minorities after clashes erupted between pro-Assad groups and government forces in western Syria. Palestinian terrorist organizations and nascent anti-Israel groups, including The Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, are operating in the country. In addition, Hezbollah continues to use Syria as a conduit to transfer weapons as the organization attempts to rearm and regroup after the significant blows it received from Israel during the recent war.
