The Israeli military has launched a rare airstrike in the heart of Damascus hitting a Syrian Defense Ministry building, as clashes in the southern Syrian city of Sweida continues to flare.

Israel said it "struck the entrance of the Syrian regime's military headquarters" and warns of more "painful blows".

Israel bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland, where a war monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people.