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Here’s where things stand on Wednesday 16 July 2025:
- Unites State: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was “very concerned” about the escalation in violence.
- United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s air strikes.
- Turkiye: Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks and said they were an attempt to sabotage Syria’s efforts to achieve peace, stability and security.
- The Gulf Cooperation Council: GCC comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – condemned the attacks in the “strongest terms”.
- UAE: The Foreign Ministry said it condemned Israel’s attacks, saying that it fully rejected any violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
- EU: President of the European Council, said on X that he was “very concerned” about the Israeli strikes on Damascus, adding that “Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity need to be respected”.
- Norway: Foreign minister said that Israel’s recent strikes could undermine efforts towards a peaceful transition of power in Syria.
World reacts to Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus
A roundup of key international reactions after Israeli air strikes near the Defence Ministry and presidential palace in Syria’s capital.
Israel has launched several air strikes in the heart of the Syrian capital, Damascus, as clashes continued in the southwestern city of Suwayda after a truce between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defence on Wednesday, hours after he had demanded Syrian government forces withdraw from Suwayda.
Another strike hit near the presidential palace, on the outskirts of the city.
At least one person was killed and 18 others were wounded in the attacks, Syrian state media reported, citing the Ministry of Health.
The attacks on Syria’s capital come amid continuing unrest in the city of Suwayda, where local Sunni Bedouin tribes have been engaged in fierce clashes in recent days with fighters from Syria’s Druze minority, whom Israel views as a potential ally in Syria and claims to be intervening to protect.
Damascus deployed its forces to the city on Tuesday and declared a ceasefire, but the fighting quickly resumed.
Here is how the world is reacting to Israel’s attacks on Damascus:
United States
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was “very concerned” about the escalation in violence.
“We’re going to be working on that issue … I just got off the phone with the relevant parties. We’re very concerned about it, and hopefully, we’ll have some updates later today. But we’re very concerned about it,” Rubio said
United Nations
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s air strikes.
“The Secretary-General further condemns Israel’s escalatory airstrikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the centre of Damascus, as well as reports of the IDF’s redeployment of forces in the Golan,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Turkiye
Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks and said they were an attempt to sabotage Syria’s efforts to achieve peace, stability and security.
“The Syrian people have a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world,” the ministry said.
“All stakeholders who support this opportunity should contribute to the Syrian government’s efforts to restore peace.”
Omer Celik, spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s governing AK Party, also condemned the attacks.
“Israel’s attacks pose a security threat to the entire region and the world,” Celik wrote on X.
GCC
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – condemned the attacks in the “strongest terms”.
In a statement, GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said the Israeli attacks were a “flagrant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty, “a breach of international laws and norms, and a serious threat to regional security and stability”.
Albudaiwi reiterated the GCC’s support for Syria’s territorial integrity, adding that the continuation of Israeli attacks constituted an “irresponsible escalation” and disregarded international efforts to achieve stability in Syria and the region.
United Arab Emirates
The Foreign Ministry said it condemned Israel’s attacks, saying that it fully rejected any violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
European Union
Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, said on X that he was “very concerned” about the Israeli strikes on Damascus, adding that “Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity need to be respected”.
“I call on all parties to refrain from violence and to de-escalate,” he said.
Norway
The Norwegian foreign minister said that Israel’s recent strikes could undermine efforts towards a peaceful transition of power in Syria.
“Deeply concerned about recent Israeli airstrikes and rising domestic tensions. The escalation risks undermining efforts towards a peaceful, Syrian-owned transition,” Espen Barth Eide wrote on X.
He said he was “alarmed” by the “escalating violence” in Syria and urged all actors to exercise “maximum restraint”.
What we know about the Israeli strike on Syria
- The Israeli army has launched air attacks on the Syrian Defence Ministry and near the presidential palace in the capital, Damascus, killing at least three and wounding 34.
- The strikes come after Israel threatened to increase attacks if Syrian government forces are not withdrawn from the south of the country where there has been fighting between Druze and security forces.
- In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, the Health Ministry says at least 21 people have been killed at a food distribution site of the controversial US- and Israeli-backed GHF.
- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says one in 10 children screened in its clinics in Gaza are malnourished as Israel’s siege on the triggers triggers a man-made starvation crisis.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,573 people and wounded 139,607, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Israeli military and Yemen’s Houthis continue to trade fire
The Israeli military has confirmed there was a projectile launched by the Houthis in Yemen.
This would be the 61st ballistic missile fired in addition to at least 15 drones since March. That’s when Israel decided to break the ceasefire and continue its attacks on Gaza.
Since October 2023, the Houthis have carried out a lot of attacks against Israel, saying that this is in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
And if war is going to keep continuing, then so are these attacks on Israel.
But the Israelis haven’t stayed silent. They’ve conducted quite a flurry of air strikes in Yemen within the last several months, saying they’re doing it to target Houthi infrastructure.
Israel says ‘operating responsibly and with restraint’ in Syria
Israel’s army chief says it’s acting with “sound judgement” in Syria after launching a major bombing campaign against its neighbour.
Fighter jets attacked government targets in the capital, Damascus, and other parts of the country.
“The commanders and soldiers are acting with responsibility, restraint and sound judgement,” said Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir as he visited the frontier with Syria on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Parties in Syria agree on steps to end clashes, says Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the various parties fighting in Syria have agreed on specific steps to end the clashes there.
“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Rubio said on X.
“This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do.”
Missile launched from Yemen ‘intercepted’: Israel
The Israeli military says it shot down a missile fired from Yemen after air raid sirens sounded in several areas of southern Israel.
The Houthi group in Yemen has repeatedly targeted Israel with missile fire since it launched the war on Gaza in 2023.
More than 100 ships have since been attacked in operations the Houthis say are in solidarity with the besieged Palestinians.
Last week, the Houthis sank two vessels in the Red Sea as the armed group ramps up military pressure attempting to bring the war on Gaza to an end.
Photos: Colombia, South Africa host international conference for measures against Israel
‘Idea of a humanitarian camp is totally unbearable and unpractical’
Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister from 2006-09, has clarified his comments on the planned forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a small zone in southern Gaza.
“I said some will try to interpret it [as a concentration camp]. It’s bad, it shouldn’t be done. But it’s not a concentration camp, and it’s not a genocide. It’s just stupid, reckless, irresponsible and something that may amount to a crime, which should be prevented,” Olmert told Al Jazeera.
“And I hope my voice and the voices of many Israelis will succeed to stop it. The idea of a ‘humanitarian camp’ is totally unbearable and impractical. It won’t help to provide the humanitarian needs of the population,” he added.
“The idea that you can deport 600,000 people from where they’re supposed to live in the north part of Gaza into the south and then keep them segregated in an area that will be walled and they won’t have a chance to move around is just totally unacceptable.”
UN chief denounces Israel’s attack on Syria
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s air strikes on Suwayda, Deraa and Damascus.
In a statement by Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief also denounced the Israeli army’s “redeployment of forces in the Golan”.
“He calls for an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for respect of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement,” said Dujarric.
Israel launched a series of air strikes on Syria’s Defence Ministry and near its presidential palace in the capital in an attack it said was in defence of the Druze community.
Photos: Palestinians mourn loved ones killed in Israeli-backed aid site attack
US tells Syria to pull forces out of the south after Israeli attacks
The US is calling on Syria to withdraw its troops from the southern border area to allow for de-escalation with Israel.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the comments after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern city of Suwayda hours after a ceasefire agreement.
“We are calling on the Syrian government to withdraw their military in order to allow all sides to be able to de-escalate,” Bruce said in an interview on Fox News.
More than 80 people killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza
Since dawn, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 81 people including 25 aid seekers, medical sources tell Al Jazeera.
Since the GHF started operating in the enclave in late May, at least 875 people have been killed trying to get food, according to the United Nations, which said on Tuesday that 674 of these deaths occurred “in the vicinity of GHF sites”.
The Health Ministry reported since the war on Gaza began in 2023, Israeli attacks have killed 58,573 people and wounded 139,607 others.
Severe malnutrition for 1 in 10 Gaza children
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says one in 10 children under the age of five screened at its clinics in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition.
The grim figure comes as hunger surges because of Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid.
Syria says Israeli attacks part of policy to ‘ignite tension’
Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli attacks on Damascus and Suwayda in the “strongest terms” as air strikes killed three people and wounded 34 others.
“The attack is part of a systematic Israeli policy to ignite tension and chaos and undermine security in Syria. The Israeli aggression represents a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international humanitarian law,” a ministry statement said.
Syria holds Israel responsible for the escalation and reserves its “right to defend our land and people through international law”.
It called on the international community and the UN Security Council to take “urgent action” against repeated Israeli aggression.
Israeli air strikes, shelling continue across besieged Gaza
The Israeli military continues to attack Gaza from the north to the south of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
As we reported earlier, at least 21 aid seekers were killed while searching for food. Here are some of the other attacks:
- A child was killed and several other Palestinians injured as a result of Israeli shelling of the Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza.
- Three people died in an Israeli air strike near the al-Shuhada School, north of Deir el-Balah, also in central Gaza.
- Two Palestinians were killed and others injured in Israeli bombardment of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli bombing of displaced people’s tents in the al-Mawasi camp in Gaza’s south resulted in the deaths of nine Palestinians.
Attacks on Syria a pattern of Israeli aggression in the region
Israel’s attack on Syria reflects the “adventurous wars” it has launched in the Middle East over the past few years, an analyst says.
“It’s a clear message to the Syrian government that the Israelis are not going to be silent. The Israelis are not going to allow the Syrian government to spread its authority all over the territory,” said Ammar Kahf, executive director of Omran Center for Strategic Studies, who is based in Damascus.
With the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government and the infancy of a new one, Israel is trying to impose its will on the new leadership, he said.
“We are still in the early stages, but this requires all Syrians to come together. For a foreign government to come in and destroy public property and destroy safety and security is something that’s unexplainable,” Kahf told Al Jazeera.