Syria strongly condemned foreign intervention following a rare Israeli strike near Damascus on Wednesday amid deadly sectarian violence.

A war monitor and an activist group say clashes broke out in the Syrian capital between local gunmen belonging to the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters.

Tensions in Syria have escalated following a deadly ambush that left at least 23 members of the Druze minority dead, according to a monitoring group, sparking calls for international intervention. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the victims were targeted late Wednesday on the Damascus–Sweida highway in an attack allegedly carried out