Israel says its fighter jets bombed an area next to the presidential palace in Syria's capital Damascus on Friday morning, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to protect the Druze religious minority following days of deadly sectarian violence.
Netanyahu said the strike was a "clear message to the Syrian regime" that Israel would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community".
Later on Friday, the Israeli military confirmed it had launched another wave of air strikes, attacking military targets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, reported nearly 20, with Syrian state media saying one person had been killed.
The Syrian presidency has said it strongly condemns the strikes, calling them a "dangerous escalation" intended to destabilise Syria.
Israel also carried out strikes south of Damascus on Wednesday during clashes between Druze gunmen, security forces and allied Sunni Islamist fighters.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticised the recent Israeli bombing, calling it a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".
In a statement delivered by his spokesman, Guterres called for Israel to stop such attacks and to respect Syria's "unity, its territorial integrity and its independence".
A spiritual leader of Syria's Druze, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, condemned the violence on Thursday as an "unjustifiable genocidal campaign" against his community and called for intervention by "international forces to maintain peace".
Other Druze religious leaders put out a statement early on Friday confirming what they said was the community's "commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife", according to the Associated Press.
They also reportedly said the state should be activated in Suweida province, and that authorities should be in control of the Suweida-Damascus highway.
The Syrian government said it had deployed security forces to Druze areas to combat "outlaw groups" which it accused of instigating the clashes.
