Israeli strikes residential building in Damascus
Shafaq News/ Israeli warplanes struck a residential building in central Damascus on Thursday, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
The strike hit the Mashrou Dummar area in the Mazzeh neighborhood, with media reports suggesting the target was associated with the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.
Other media outlets reported that two missiles hit the area, causing extensive damage and loud explosions. Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated that “Air Force warplanes raided a terrorist command center affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization in Damascus, which was used to plan and manage terrorist activities for the organization.”
#عاجل 🔴 أغارت طائرات حربية لسلاح الجو قبل قليل على مقر قيادة أرهابي تابع لتنظيم الجهاد الإسلامي الفلسطيني في منطقة دمشق والذي أستخدم لتخطيط وإدارة أنشطة إرهابية للتنظيم. ⭕️جيش الدفاع لن يسمح للمنظمات الإرهابية التموضع داخل سوريا والعمل ضد دولة إسرائيل وسيعمل بقوة ضد كل محاولة… pic.twitter.com/xvNwJWsHrQ
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 13, 2025
Images circulating on social media showed thick smoke rising from the area, with footage highlighting severe damage to nearby residential buildings.
Since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israel has intensified its military operations in Syria, launching nearly 500 airstrikes targeting military sites in Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo.
Israeli forces advanced into the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights, citing the need to counter Iranian presence, and expanded operations into southern Syria’s Sweida, claiming to protect the Druze community.
In northeastern Syria, strikes targeted Iranian-linked facilities near Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah, while sites near Damascus suspected of ties to Syria’s chemical weapons program were also bombed.
