Israel is bombing a target close to the presidential palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus

Israel bombed a target close to the presidential palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus, early Friday morning, in the clearest indication of its hostility to the new Syrian authorities and its willingness to escalate military action under the pretext of protecting the Druze minority in Syria.

Israel has climbed its military operations in Syria since the opposition overthrew Bashar al -Assad in December, bombed areas throughout the country and brought ground forces to the southwest.

The Israeli army said in the early hours of this morning that it had bombed the “neighboring” area of ​​the presidential palace in Damascus, and did not mention any other details.

The Syrian authorities have not indicated any comment, nor did it yet report human losses.

A Syrian official told Reuters that the goal is almost a hundred meters east of the perimeter of the palace.

“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime: we will not allow the Syrian forces to deploy south of Damascus or to form any threat to the Druze,” Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz.