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

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives never seen before.

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.

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.

Syrian troops are trying to intervene in sectarian violence in the south between the Druze minority and Bedouins. Israel said its strikes were to protect the Druze.

Syria TV has released footage of the moment its Damascus studio captured an Israeli strike on the Syrian Defense Ministry.

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.