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.

Israel sharply escalated its strikes on Syrian regime targets on Wednesday, hitting buildings belonging to the defense ministry, the presidential palace and over 160 other targets since last night

An Israeli strike last week outside a health clinic that killed at least 15 people reignited long-standing concerns around the IDF's approach to proportionality.

An Israeli military official said, "we are reinforcing forces in the Golan Heights and along the border, ready for a multitude of scenarios."

An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defence establishment, but officials say a practical plan has yet to be crafted.