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.

Israel struck the headquarters of the Syrian Ministry of Defence, a development which escalated another military front in the Middle EastFootage seen by Legit.ng showed four explosions from Israeli strikes battering the sides of the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday,

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.

The fighting puts the U.S. in an awkward position, with President Donald Trump pursuing a path of normalization with the embattled Syria.

A series of airstrikes has hit the Syrian capital Damascus, with Syrian state media blaming Israel. One video from a Syrian television channel shows the Ministry of Defense building being hit live on air, forcing the anchor to take cover. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz shared the footage, saying “the painful blows have begun.”