Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. is "very concerned" by expanding Israeli strikes targeting Syria's new government, and he wants "the fighting to stop."

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 carried out a series of airstrikes Wednesday on Syria’s Defense Ministry in Damascus, causing injuries in an escalating conflict with the new Syrian government, according to an Israeli military statement and Syrian state television.

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.

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.

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.

A week after deadly clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, Syrian Red Crescent convoys drove on Sunday along the Damascus-Daraa highway to provide humanitarian assistance to citizens stranded in villages under attack.

Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria’s predominantly Druze region of Sweida as the country’s new Islamist regime struggled to implement a ceasefire after days of bloodshed. Shelling and firing were heard as Druze fighters reportedly pushed out Bedouin gunmen from Sweida city on Saturday.