We'll be ending our live coverage of Israel's strikes on Syria's capital Damascus now.

For any further updates on these attacks, in which at least three people were killed and 34 injured, our main story will be kept updated here. It is not yet clear if the "specific steps" to end the violence tonight, which the US says has been agreed by both sides, have come into effect.

Israel says it attacked the Syrian defence ministry in the capital - which was broadcast on live TV and led a journalist to take cover as a strike hit the ministry headquarters nearby.

Israel also says it carried out attacks it targeted the Syrian military in defence of the Druze civilians, as it accused the government of also attacking in the south of the country. Syrian state TV has reported the army is withdrawing from the city of Suweida, following an agreement between them and local religious leaders.

The latest round of sectarian fighting started on Sunday between the Druze minority and Bedouin tribes in Suweida - where there is a Druze majority. Our Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab reported from the city in southern Syria following previous clashes there.

The situation in Syria has moved quite quickly in the last few hours, so here's a recap of what we know so far:

• This afternoon Israel intensified its airstrikes on Syria, including near the presidential palace and on the defence ministry headquarters in central Damascus
• Images show the ministry's building was severely damaged, with a clean-up operation now under way
• Describing the moments after the ministry building being struck, filmmaker Fadi told the BBC: "Everyone started running in the street."
• Syria's health ministry says three people were killed in the strikes - a further 34 were injured
• Israel says it is protecting Syria's minority Druze community, but neighbouring Turkey says the strikes aim to sabotage a historic chance to establish peace and security
• The aerial assault in Damascus follow days of escalating sectarian violence in Suweida, which is home to many from the Druze minority
• According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) more than 300 people have been killed in the south Syria since Sunday
• The Syrian army, which has been accused of being responsible for some of the killings alongside other security forces, have begun to withdraw from Suweida, according to State media reports

Image source, Sana

Syrian troops have started to withdraw from Suweida, according to Syria's state news agency Sana.

It says that the military is leaving the city as part of an agreement between the Syrian government and the Suweida's religious leaders, following the "completion of the army's pursuit of outlaw groups".

As a reminder, the majority of Suweida's residents are from the Druze minority - a community with its own unique practices and beliefs, whose faith began as an off-shoot of Shia Islam.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X today that the country “supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Syria and “will always stand” with the people of the country.

He also mockingly asked Israel “which capital is next?", referring to Israel’s recent attacks on the Iranian capital Tehran.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who holds the ultimate power in Iran, did not mention Syria in his speech this morning. In the past, he has been quick to publicly support former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was backed by Iran.

In Iranian media, since the fall of Assad, events in Syria are framed in two ways: the new government is shown as weak, silent on Israeli attacks, and against Shia minorities, while Israel is shown as using each crisis to push for Syria to be partitioned.

We've some more pictures to bring you of the damage suffered at the site of Syria's defence ministry, which was hit by Israeli strikes.

A clean-up operation is now underway as machinery works to remove rubble and inspect the damage.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Syria's foreign affairs ministry says the country "welcomes the efforts made by the US and Arabian sides" to "resolve the current crisis" peacefully.

In a statement, Syria's foreign ministry says it is ready to "co-operate with all parties concerned that seek appeasement and stability".

We're yet to hear Israel comment on these reports.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says: "We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight."

In a post on X, Rubio says the US has "engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria".

Israel is acting with "responsibility, restraint, and sound judgment", says the chief of staff of the country's military.

Eyal Zamir says the Israel Defense Forces has ordered "further reinforcement of intelligence and strike capabilites" to "increase the paces of strikes in Syria" as needed. He says this is in order to protect the Druze community in Suweida.

"We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold. We will not rely on anyone else, we will defend the communities along the border. There is no room for disorder near the border fence," Zamir says.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Israel’s "escalatory air strikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the center of Damascus".

A statement from his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, says Guterres calls for "an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from New York

After a request from Syria, the UN Security Council is likely to meet over the Israeli strikes in Damascus.

That could take place on Thursday or Friday.

One site hit by Israeli strikes on Damascus was an area near the presidential palace.

Video footage shows smoke rising from near the palace after strikes hit.

Lina Sinjab
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Beirut

The Druze community prides itself as a revolutionary one. They led the revolution against the French in the 1930s and took part in the revolution against Bashar al-Assad.

Today there is a growing sense of bitterness and anger especially after many members of the official army humiliated Druze leaders and young men by capturing them and cutting off their long moustaches, which is a symbol of the Druze.

Now a new ceasefire deal is agreed but the trust is broken. There is a lack of confidence in how the government is performing.

People are sceptical, especially given the investigation into violence against Alawites that happened in coastal cities earlier this year has not revealed its findings after deadlines to do so.

Many worry that this government is good at giving promises but fails to deliver them. The government so far is showing more weakness than strength.

The starting point is not only to investigate violations, but to prosecute those who committed them.

Lina Sinjab
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Beirut

When I was in Suweida in early May, there was a great sense of resentment mixed with bitterness following clashes between Druze factions and official forces, where dozens were killed.

The road from Damascus was manned with official security forces but as you enter the city, the rainbow-coloured Druze flag appears, and Druze fighters take control.

The views in the predominantly Druze city are mixed. Some are certain they don’t want to be affiliated with the central government in Damascus, but many others wanted to assert on their Syrian identity rather than the Druze one.

They wanted the government to perform better and be inclusive, but all they saw is a government that is depending on its Sunni recruits and not including other denominations of the Syrian society within its forces - including the Druze.

Suweida and the Druze community were still healing from a round of violence that happened in May, where Druze militias were in direct confrontation with the military and security forces.

The mistrust in the government grew following this violence. Some of the Druze community leaders and militias had already refused to join the central government and wanted autonomy - something Damascus consistently refused.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has called the Syrian government's "independent investigation" into the recurring attacks on minorities in Syria a farce, as he accuses them of taking part in them.

Speaking to various fellow foreign ministers in a series of calls, he told them the attacks on Syria's Alawite, Kurd, Druze, and Christian minorities are being carried by both the Syrian government and armed groups that support them.

According to a statement from his office, Sa'ar said that the Syrian government made a promise to investigate killings of Alawites earlier this year, which he called hollow.

He told the EU's Kaja Kallas, Germany's Johann Wadephul and Greece's Giorgos Gerapetritis that preventing harm to minorities and respecting their rights were among the conditions set by the EU for lifting sanctions against Syria - and that the continued attacks against them would not allow stability to be achieved.

Sa'ar added that Israel is interested in stability and preventing any threats from rising against it in southern Syria, as well as its commitment to preventing harm to the Druze community.

The government in Syria has been given clear messages and it knows exactly how to restore quiet and stability if it so desires, he told the European ministers.

Israel has intensified its air strikes on Syria this afternoon, here's a map showing the two main areas of central Damascus we have confirmed were hit:

Image source, Getty Images

Syria's foreign ministry has condemned Israel's targeting of "government institutions and civilian facilities" in Damascus, as well as in Suweida following today's aerial attacks.

After Israel's strikes targeted the ministry of defence building in Damascus, as well as the area around the presidential palace, the foreign ministry says several civilians were killed and dozens more injured.

It says there was also "extensive damage to infrastructure and public services".

The foreign ministry accuses Israel of carrying out a "flagrant assault" in the pursuit of a "deliberate policy" to "inflame tensions, spread chaos and undermine security and stability in Syria".

"Syria holds Israel fully responsible for this dangerous escalation and its consequences," it adds.

Here's a look at some of the regional reaction to today's attacks.

Israel's strikes on Damascus and its interventions in the south of the country are "an act of sabotage against Syria's efforts to secure peace, stability and security", Turkey says.

"The Syrian people now have a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world," the country's foreign ministry says in a statement.

It adds everyone "committed to seizing this opportunity must contribute to the Syrian administration's efforts to establish calm".

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemns the attacks and has called on the international community to end the violence.

He describes the strikes as "a flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty and a breach of the most basic principles of international law", adding in a statement that Israel's aggression "cannot be accepted".

Meanwhile, Iraq's foreign ministry says it rejects the "endangering" of Syrian lives and intensification of their "humanitarian suffering".

The statement also reiterates Iraq's "firm position" in opposing any attacks that violate the sovereignty of any country, warning Israel not to use the fighting in Suweida as a "cover to achieve expansionist goals".

Rachel Hagan
World Service reporter

OS Radio on the BBC's World Service has been speaking with people in Damascus throughout the day, here's what some of them had to say:

Filmmaker Fadi tells us that he was near the ministry of defence building in Damascus when Israeli air strikes hit.

"Everyone started running in the street," he says. "No one knew where to go, and suddenly the airstrike began, targeting some of the most crowded areas.

He then describes seeing rescue workers "rushing to help the injured, carrying them away from the site of the attack", and adds that many are now "deeply worried" about what will happen next.

A doctor in Damascus, Sham, says it has been "super overwhelming" at her hospital.

As violence in Syria escalated before today's attacks, she says her teams "evacuated the hospital" to make sure emergency care and operation rooms "are ready now".

And, aid worker Muhammed says he could hear the sound of the Israeli aircraft from where he is based near the city's Umayyad Square.

When he heard the strikes taking place, he says he was "reminded of the feeling in north-west Syria when Iranian and Russian and Assad air forces were bombing us and our innocent civilians".

Tom Joyner
Live reporter

When the explosions sounded, Faisal was making his way to hospital in the Muhajreen neighbourhood of Damascus for an entirely separate matter.

All morning, he had been feeling pain in his kidney and wanted a doctor's opinion.

But when the Israeli planes struck, the blasts were so close and so powerful it felt as if someone had hit the inside of his skull.

"My friend said the sky moved," he tells me. "Our first thought was to hurry up because we know that Israelis could bomb everything and anyone."

Around him, the streets quickly cleared. Whoever remained was looking up at the sky or down at their phones.

"For several minutes, I forgot my horrible kidney pain," Faisal says.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent, in Washington

Earlier today, I attended a briefing about Syria with the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, in Washington DC.

It was about the fact that hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have returned to the country since the the fall of the Assad regime - something the agency called a “unique, once in a generation” moment.

They are trying to consolidate US and international support to maintain stability and ensure more refugees can safely return.

The officials were asked about Israel’s attacks on Damascus and Suweida, as well as the sectarian violence there.

“It's a very fragile situation, and what we need for Syria and for Syrians to be able to recover and rebuild is stability. So it certainly doesn't advance that cause,” said Rema Jamous Inseis, UNHCR’s Regional Director for the Middle East.

She added that the UN Secretary General’s office had already said it was very concerned and called for the violence to stop.