Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.

Israel will raise defence spending by 42 billion shekels ($12.5 billion) in 2025 and 2026, the finance and defence ministries said on Thursday, citing the country's security challenges.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck "the entrance" of Syria's military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday.At least one person was killed and 18 others were injured Wednesday in the Israeli airstrikes on the capital,

The report details the wholesale destruction by the Israeli state of educational, religious and cultural institutions in Gaza and on the West Bank.

Despite reports indicating the strike was carried out by Israel, Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had not conducted the strikes. Israel carried out an airstrike in the vicinity of Syria's Sweida,

For weeks, Israel has engaged in back-channel talks over a diplomatic agreement with the Syrian government. Its strikes on Damascus this week highlight a lack of strategic clarity.

Israel says it's trying to protect the Druze community in south-west Syria, where there have been deadly sectarian clashes.

“The Israeli Druze are now trying to use that and urge the Israeli government to protect fellow Druze in Syria,” he said, explaining, in part, the justification for Israel’s strikes on Syria, where the Druze community has traditionally been anti-Israel, even as some leaders grow closer to Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday attacked the entrance to the Syrian regime’s military headquarters in the Damascus area in response to reports of atrocities against local Druze residents.

Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority.