Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday morning that he's concerned about Israel's strikes on Damascus, Syria, over unrest in the southern part of the country.

Washington

Israel and Iran have agreed a ceasefire after a twelve day conflict. Meanwhile, Israel strikes in Gaza continue with the humanitarian crisis deepening.

Middle East Conflict

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed concern about Israel's recent airstrikes targeting Syrian government forces near the border, following unrest in southern Syria. The strikes, which shook Damascus and caused visible damage to the Defense Ministry building, were launched in response to attacks on Druze communities.

A ceasefire had been announced by Syria's Defense Minister, but fighting resumed, prompting the U.S. to call for an end to hostilities. The White House is monitoring the situation and has not yet issued an official statement, as President Biden is scheduled to meet with Middle Eastern leaders involved in regional issues.

Rubio says U.S. concerned about Israel's strikes on Syria

comes as Israel has carried out massive airstrikes against Syrian government forces for the second day. Israel is promising to destroy Syrian forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria near Israel's border. Now those powerful airstrikes shook the Syrian capital of Damascus today. A thick plume of smoke was seen rising from the Defense Ministry building. There are no reports yet on injuries or the extent of the damage, but you can see that smoke there. Now Syria's Defense Minister announced a ceasefire in the region on Tuesday. Government forces moving into the city where sectarian violence has killed dozens of people. Now within the last hour, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had this to say about Israel's strikes on Syria. We wanted the fighting to stop because we had a ceasefire on the night it broke down. So we're talking to both sides, all the relevant sides at least, and hopefully can bring it to a conclusion. Let's go live now to the White House and CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe. Ed, thank you for joining us today. Any further reaction from the White House about those strikes? Not yet, Mugo. We are awaiting the president to speak out if he gets asked about this when he's meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain in a little bit. That might be the most obvious spot, but this has flared up obviously just in the last several hours. Israel obviously concerned about the Druze population of Syria. That seems to be partly what has sparked this, but the attacks just in the last several hours have been quite brazen, quite dramatic, and obviously as you see there, the administration aware of them and continuing to monitor the situation as the president prepares for these two meetings with two Middle East leaders who have been involved, at least peripherally, with Israel's ongoing issues in Gaza and with Iran.

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Rubio says U.S. concerned about Israel's strikes on Syria

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