Israel threatened to escalate attacks on Syrian government forces unless they withdrew from Sweida, a southern province dominated by the country’s Druse minority.

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 strikes against Syrian government forces in southern Syria, saying it was acting to protect the Druze minority.