Syrians, some in shock and others in tears, ran out of shops and apartment buildings along the street bordering the Syrian defense complex in central Damascus. An Israeli double strike had just hit the cluster of buildings in the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday, July 16, sending shards of metal flying. Ambulance sirens began to wail, but the roar of warplanes already signaled further bombings. Four strikes tore through the Syrian Defense Ministry and the military general staff headquarters, the explosions resounding through the area.
Those who had lived through the al-Assad regime’s bombings during the civil war fell back into old habits. They threw themselves to the ground, with their hands covering their faces to shield themselves from shrapnel. Others fled toward the tree-lined lanes of the upscale Mazzeh district. In the buildings overlooking Umayyad Square, dust seeped in through broken windows, laden with the smell of gunpowder.
“In 14 years of war, we’ve never seen anything like this here. In Eastern Ghouta [a suburb of Damascus that was ravaged during the civil war], yes, but that’s far away. Israeli jets bomb as they please because we have no air defenses. And it’s civilians who pay the price,” said Mohammed al-Hariri, a building caretaker. Syrian authorities reported three dead and 34 wounded in Damascus, many of them civilians. Israeli strikes also targeted the areas around the presidential palace, Mazzeh military airport and military targets in the west and south of the country.
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