P LUMES OF SMOKE rose over Damascus on July 16th as Israeli warplanes struck Syria’s capital. Targeting the presidential palace, the defence ministry and the army command, the attack killed at least one person and wounded several others.

Israel stepped up its attacks on regime targets in Syria for the third consecutive day on Wednesday in what it said was an effort to protect the Druze community in southern Syria, after reports that hundreds of residents had been killed in clashes with Bedouin gunmen and Syrian government forces over recent days.

Clashes between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin clans in Syria's Sweida province have killed more than 30 people and injured nearly 100. The interior ministry said Monday that military forces