THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Israeli airstrikes on Damascus are hampering Syria's efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser said on Thursday.

Israel carried out a series of powerful strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, escalating a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Syrian government troops will be blocked from the area south of the capital Damascus to protect the Druze minority following Israel's attacks in the country earlier this week.

Sharply escalating tensions in Syria appeared to ease on Thursday following a new ceasefire, a day after Israel bombed Damascus and threatened further attacks under the pretext of "protecting the Druze" amid sectarian clashes in the southern province of Sweida.

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drew in an array of local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country's yearslong civil war.

These events highlight the falsity of claims that the regime change that took place in December 2024 with the support of the US and its allies, including Turkey, would bring democracy and peace to Syria,

The Syrian government has begun withdrawing its forces from the majority-Druze city of Suwayda, according to the country's state-run SANA news agency. A ceasefire with Druze militia has also been announced but it is "unclear" whether it will hold, said CNN.