Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority”, as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria, Reuters reported.

In his first televised statement after powerful Israeli air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.

He added that the Syrian people are not afraid of war and are ready to fight if their dignity is threatened.

Israel’s airstrikes blew up part of Syria’s defence ministry and hit 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 Sharaa’s Islamist-led administration. They came despite his warming ties with the U.S. and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel, read the report.

Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has said it will not 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.

The U.S. said the fighting would stop soon.

“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media.

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to address the conflict, diplomats said.

“The council must condemn the barbaric crimes committed against innocent civilians on Syrian soil,” said Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon. “Israel will continue to act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders, anywhere and at any time.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 169 people had been killed in this week’s violence. Security sources put the toll at 300. Reuters could not independently verify the tolls.

Reuters reporters heard warplanes swoop low over the capital Damascus and unleash a series of massive strikes on Wednesday afternoon. Columns of smoke rose from the area near the defence ministry. A section of the building was destroyed, the ground strewn with rubble, Reuters reported.

An Israeli military official said the entrance to the military headquarters in Damascus was struck, along with a military target near the presidential palace. The official said Syrian forces were not acting to prevent attacks on Druze and were part of the problem.

“We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold,” said Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief of staff.

Sharaa faces challenges to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that fear Islamist rule. In March, mass killings of members of the Alawite minority exacerbated the mistrust.

Druze, followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam, are spread between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Following calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military was working to save the Druze and urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed, Reuters reported.

Israeli Druze Faez Shkeir said he felt helpless watching the violence in Syria.

“My family is in Syria – my wife is in Syria, my uncles are from Syria, and my family is in Syria, in Sweida, I don’t like to see them being killed. They kicked them out of their homes, they robbed and burned their houses, but I can’t do anything,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should not target Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin should agree to a ceasefire deal by a 50-day deadline or sanctions will kick in, Reuters reported.

His comments came after The Financial Times, citing people briefed on discussions, reported on Tuesday that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russia.

The newspaper said that Trump asked Zelenskiy whether he could strike Moscow if the U.S. provided long-range weapons.

“No, he shouldn’t target Moscow,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House when asked if Zelenskiy should attack the Russian capital.

Trump on Monday announced a toughened stance against Russia for its three-year-old war in Ukraine, promising a fresh wave of missiles and other weaponry for Ukraine. He gave Moscow 50 days to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions.

The announcement set off a scramble among European officials to figure out how to make Trump’s plan work and ensure Ukraine gets the weapons it needs, read the report.

Later on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that some of the Patriot missiles are already on their way to Ukraine.

“They’re coming in from Germany,” he said.

Trump said he had not yet spoken to Putin in the wake of his announcement, but said it might not take 50 days to make a deal.

Asked earlier if he was now on the side of Ukraine, Trump said, “I am on nobody’s side,” and then declared he was on “humanity’s side” because “I want to stop the killing.”

Trump defended the deadline he set for Russia to agree to a deal and head off tariffs and sanctions on countries that buy oil from Russia, Reuters reported.

He did not say whether any talks were planned to try to work out a deal with Russia.

“At the end of the 50 days if we don’t have a deal, it’s going to be too bad,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Monday to lead a new government, setting the stage for a political reshuffle as Ukraine’s war with Russia raged on, Reuters reported.

Zelenskiy also proposed that Ukraine’s current prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, take over as defence minister, describing him as holding the right qualifications for a very important job.

The nominations, which require parliamentary approval, came as diplomatic efforts to end the war, now in its fourth year, have stalled and as Ukraine seeks to revive its cash-strapped economy and build up a domestic arms industry.

“We … discussed concrete measures to boost Ukraine’s economic potential, expand support programs for Ukrainians, and scale up our domestic weapons production,” Zelenskiy wrote on X.

“In pursuit of this goal, we are initiating a transformation of the executive branch in Ukraine,” he said, adding that he had proposed that Svyrydenko lead the government and “significantly renew its work”.

Svyrydenko, 39, is an economist and has served as first deputy prime minister since 2021. She played a key role in recent negotiations for a minerals deal with the United States, read the report.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy praised Shmyhal’s “vast experience” as very “valuable in the position of minister of defence of Ukraine.”

“This is precisely the area where the country’s maximum resources, maximum tasks and a great deal of responsibility are currently concentrated,” he said.

Shmyhal has served as prime minister since March 2020, making him the longest-serving head of government since the country gained its independence from Moscow in 1991 amid the collapse of the Soviet Union.

He would replace Rustem Umerov, who Zelenskiy suggested last week could be named Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington.

Ukraine relies on financial aid from its Western allies to finance social and humanitarian spending as the bulk of state revenues go to fund the army and domestic weapons production, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian officials have also urged Kyiv’s partners to help finance the country’s arms industry, including through joint defence projects.

In his address, Zelenskiy said Ukraine would continue to “boost production of its own weapons and develop its own defence projects — our own Ukrainian and jointly with our partners”.

Writing on X, Svyrydenko said she would pursue deregulation, cut back bureaucracy, protect business and reduce non-critical expenditure to achieve the “full concentration of state resources” for defence and post-war recovery.

“The state apparatus has no right to waste the resources and potential of our country,” she said. “Ukraine deserves to be among the strongest economies in Europe.”