The IDF bombed the Syrian military’s HQ and presidential palace in Damascus, saying it had done so to protect the Syrian Druze city of Sweida from the al-Shara’a government’s “actions against Druze civilians.” Israel Border Police officers crossed into Syria to retrieve dozens of Israeli Druze who had breached the border. Israeli strikes killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Health Ministry reported. The GHF said more than 20 people were killed waiting for aid at one of its sites, blaming Hamas for intentionally agitating the crowd. Locals told Haaretz that the unrest was caused by the GHF’s security team firing tear gas at those seeking aid. U.S. President Trump expects a compromise in Gaza truce talks to come from Israel, a source told Haaretz.  What happened today 
 ■ SYRIA: The IDF bombed the Syrian military’s HQ and the presidential palace in Damascus, saying it “continues to monitor developments and the [al-Shara’a] regime’s actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria.” Defense Minister Israel Katz published a video of the airstrike, which was broadcast live by a local Syrian news channel, along with the caption: “The painful blows have begun.” The Syrian Health Ministry reported one person killed and 28 wounded from the strikes in Damascus.

• The strikes came after clashes resumed between local Druze fighters and Syrian government forces in the southern city of Sweida, hours after a cease-fire was announced there on Tuesday.
  
• After Druze leaders in Israel declared a general strike and “days of rage” in response to the escalation in Sweida, dozens of Druze Israelis crossed into Syria through the Golan Heights city of Majdal Shams. Some 300 Border Police officers were dispatched to the Israel-Syria border to secure the border while IDF forces also moved into Syria in order to return Israeli Druze citizens who had crossed over. A video circulating on social media showed a Druze man raising an Israeli flag in Sweida.
  
• PM Netanyahu said Israel is operating “against regime gangs” in Syria in order “to save our Druze brothers,” calling on Israeli Druze not to cross into Syria, as they risk being killed or kidnapped and harming the IDF’s efforts.
  
• The IDF said it is preparing for several days of fighting in Syria and will withdraw forces from Gaza in order to redeploy them in the north.

“Druze leaders in both Israel and Syria argue this is not a local flare-up but a calculated move by the new Syrian regime. The violence began with what was initially described as a localized clash between Sunni militias – some with past affiliations to ISIS – and Druze defense forces around Sweida, a predominantly Druze city. Afterward the Syrian Army intervened ostensibly to restore order, but evidence suggests it was acting in coordination with the Sunni militias to intimidate the Druze minority” – Amos Harel

• Later on Wednesday, a Druze community leader in Syria announced that a cease-fire had been agreed with the Damascus government.
  
• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. is “very concerned” about Israel’s strikes in Syria and that there had been intensive U.S. diplomatic efforts, adding “we think we’re on our way toward a real de-escalation…in the next few hours, we hope to see some real progress to end” the fighting. The Trump administration asked Israel to halt strikes on Syria and engage in dialogue with al-Sharaa’s government, Axios reported.
  
• Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF struck Syrian Army targets in the south of the country, killing and wounding several members of Syria’s armed forces, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen reported.
  
• Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar asked in a statement, “What else needs to happen for the international community to make its voice heard” about the persecution of minority groups in Syria since Ahmed al-Shaara took power. “Sometimes it is the regime’s forces. Sometimes it is jihadist militias. And usually it is both,” Sa’ar said about attacks against Syria’s Alawite community, Kurds and Christian churches.

“Defense Minister Israel Katz is leading the confrontation line to al-Shaara’s regime. It’s a combination of megalomania and politics: Thousands of Druze have registered for Likud and every vote in the primaries counts. Two months ago, Katz invented a new position in his office and appointed former MK Fateen Mulla as ‘advisor for Druze affairs,’ which is short for ‘advisor for Druze votes.’ Katz has decided to be the Druze community’s patron in Syria. Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli also entered the race, proposing to assassinate al-Sharaa, a leader who met Trump just two months ago. Chikli made this proposal public on Twitter” – Chaim Levinson

■ GAZA: The Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that Israeli strikes killed 94 Palestinians and wounded 252 over the past 24 hours. According to the ministry, 58,573 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

• Over 20 Palestinians were killed, most of them trampled to death, while waiting in line for aid in Khan Yunis “amid a chaotic and dangerous surge, driven by agitators in the crowd,” the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said, blaming Hamas of purposefully instigating unrest. A local told Haaretz that “the main factor in this case” was that a security team at the GHF site crowded together those seeking aid and then fired tear gas at them, causing a panic.
  
• The IDF said it established a route bisecting Khan Yunis from east to west, claiming it “serves as a key component in applying pressure on Hamas and achieving the decisive defeat of its Khan Yunis Brigade.”
  
• The UN’s special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank, Francesca Albanese, told delegates from 30 countries meeting in Bogota to discuss the Israel-Hamas war that “each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel … and ensure its private sector does the same… The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: U.S. President Trump expects a compromise in cease-fire negotiations between Hamas and Israel to come from Israel, a source close to the president told Haaretz.

■ ISRAEL: Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party announced it will support a bill by right-wing opposition party Yisrael Beiteinu that would ban humanitarian aid to Gaza, writing in a statement it will back the proposal in light of “the prime minister’s rush toward a surrender deal with Hamas.”

• A soldier in the IDF’s Nahal Brigade committed suicide Monday at a base in northern Israel, the fourth soldier to commit suicide in less than two weeks. The IDF said the Military Police is investigating the case and will pass its findings to the military advocate general’s office for review.

■ WEST BANK: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he “asked Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet,” a U.S. citizen beaten to death by settlers last Friday in the West Bank town of Sinjil. Mussallet’s family said last week that settlers also prevented paramedics from reaching him, and that he died before reaching the hospital.

• An Israeli military court released from custody a Palestinian arrested last Friday on suspicion of disturbing public order during the attack in which Mussallet was killed. The judge sharply criticized the police’s conduct, saying it should have protected the suspect, not detained him, saying “There is no indication that the suspect assaulted anyone.”
  
• France’s mission to Israel said it opposes the renewal of construction in the E1 settlement project near Jerusalem in the West Bank, writing in a post on X that “it is contrary to international law and jeopardizes the possibility of a two-state solution” and that France “reiterates its condemnation of the settlement and all the tensions and violence it provokes.”

 Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 on October 7. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 58,573 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold 53 hostages, soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war erupted after 10 months of an intense domestic political and social crisis, due to legislation promoted by the Netanyahu government aimed at dramatically weakening Israel’s judiciary and the prime minister’s corruption trial, amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel’s most right-wing government ever.