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Western diplomats were within metres of Israeli strikes in Damascus, sources say
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 17, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 17, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Western diplomats narrowly escaped Israeli airstrikes in Damascus targeting Syria's defense ministry. The strikes aimed to protect the Druze minority.
By Timour Azhari
DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Western diplomats were passing near Syria's defence ministry in Damascus in an armoured convoy when Israel struck the building with several missiles on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the matter, including a Syrian eyewitness.
No-one in the convoy was injured and it continued on its way, the people said, declining to give further details on the nationalities or number of those involved.
Israel launched powerful airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace, while also striking government security forces operating against militants from the country's Druze minority in the southern province of Sweida.
A Syrian medical source said the strikes on the ministry killed five members of the security forces.
Israel says its strikes were part of an effort to protect the Druze minority in southern Syria, an assertion rejected by Syria's president, who said Israel aimed to undermine the new government's efforts to bring the country together.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Israel launched powerful airstrikes on Damascus, targeting the defense ministry and the presidential palace, resulting in significant damage.
No-one in the convoy of Western diplomats was injured, and they continued on their way after the strikes.
A Syrian medical source reported that the strikes killed five members of the security forces.
Israel stated that the strikes were part of an effort to protect the Druze minority in southern Syria.
Syria's president rejected Israel's justification, claiming that the strikes aimed to undermine the new government's efforts.
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