On March 17, 2025, Israel conducted air strikes in the vicinity of Daraa, a city in southern Syria, according to the state news agency SANA and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Initial reports indicated that Israeli warplanes targeted a military site previously associated with the regime of ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad, which is now used by the forces of Syria’s new authorities.

The strikes resulted in a fire at the site and prompted ambulances to rush to the scene, amid reports of casualties.

The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, confirmed that the Israeli air force had executed a strike on Damascus just days prior, claiming to have hit a command center associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.

This operation reportedly resulted in at least one fatality, with SANA indicating that a building in the capital had been directly targeted.

The Israeli military characterized the command center as a facility used for planning and directing terrorist activities against Israel.

A representative from Islamic Jihad stated that the building had been vacant for the past five years, positing that the strike served as a message from Israel rather than an operational move against active members of the group.

The ongoing hostilities underscore the protracted conflict in the region, as Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes in Syria since the civil war began in 2011, focusing primarily on Iranian-linked targets and government forces.

Israel has maintained a military presence in the area, including troops deployed to a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.

The broader geopolitical implications of these air strikes reflect ongoing tensions in a region still wrestling with the aftermath of civil conflict and shifting alliances.