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.

Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the situation as "complicated" but said it looked like a "misunderstanding".

South Africa condemns Israeli attacks on Damascus and its announcement that it will continue to occupy Southern Syria

The agreement comes after intense clashes displaced tens of thousands of people and contributed to a worsening humanitarian crisis in a region still recovering from over a decade of brutal civil war.V

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.