...KABOOM!...
s in Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.
The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and came despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel.
Describing Syria's new rulers as barely disguised bully boys, Israel has said it won't let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area's Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel's own Druze minority.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
described the situation as "complicated" but said it looked like a "misunderstanding". He said he thought progress towards de-escalation would be made within hours.
Scores of people have been killed this week in violence in and around the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, pitting fighters from the Druze minority against government security forces and members of Bedouin tribes.