The State Department condemned recent Israeli strikes in Syria, and Secretary Marco Rubio announced a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Syria to end immediate violence.

"If Israel feels that a certain leader...is an evident threat to its national security, it will operate," a former Israeli envoy told Newsweek.

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.

For weeks, Israel has engaged in back-channel talks over a diplomatic agreement with the Syrian government. Its strikes on Damascus this week highlight a lack of strategic clarity.

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.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says progress has been made to resolve the fighting in southern Syria that broke out over the weekend and has reportedly left more than 300 dead. "We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria,

Following a dramatic Israeli airstrike on Syria’s General Staff Headquarters in Damascus, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio called the escalation a “misunderstanding” and claimed de-escalation could be just hours away.