Damascus: Television reporters run for cover after Israel bomb explodes at Syria’s military headquarters

Dramatic footage has shown the moment two television reporters had to run for cover after Israel bombed Syria’s defence ministry building in Damascus.

One Syrian news presenter was in the middle of a live segment when she leaped from her seat visibly shaken after a missile struck the building behind her.

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, shared the now viral video on his X account with the caption: “The painful blows have begun”.

A second correspondent was reporting live a few hundred metres away from the defence building when he had to duck for cover mid-broadcast.

In a major escalation, the Israeli Defence Forces launched airstrikes on the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus and carried out additional strikes on Syrian forces in the southern city of Sweida after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed.

Syria’s defence ministry had earlier blamed militias in Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement that had been reached on Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire and continue military operations in the Druze-majority province.

“Military forces continue to respond to the source of fire inside the city of Sweida, while adhering to rules of engagement to protect residents, prevent harm, and ensure the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes,” the statement said.

A rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted Syria’s longtime despotic leader, Bashar Assad, in December, bringing an end to a nearly 14-year civil war.

Since then, the country’s new rulers have struggled to consolidate control over the territory.

The primarily Sunni Muslim leaders have faced suspicion from religious and ethnic minorities.

The fears of minorities increased after clashes between government forces and pro-Assad armed groups in March spiralled into sectarian revenge attacks in which hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, to which Assad belongs, were killed.

The latest escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province, a centre of the Druze community.

Government forces that intervened to restore order have also clashed with the Druze, while reports have surfaced of members of the security forces carrying out extrajudicial killings, looting and burning civilian homes.

No official casualty figures have been released since Monday, when the Syrian interior ministry said 30 people had been killed.

The UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 250 people had been killed as of Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces.

The observatory said at least 21 people were killed in “field executions”.

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shi’ite Islam.

- With AP