CAIRO, July 16. /TASS/. Israeli aircraft have carried out new strikes on southern Syria, according to the daily Al Watan.

The newspaper reported that this time the strikes targeted the Deraa province, which borders Suwayda, where armed clashes have been ongoing since July 13. No details are yet available on casualties or damage caused by the airstrikes.

In response, the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority decided to temporarily close one of its air corridors connecting Damascus and the Iraqi city of Basra.

Clashes between Arab tribal militias and Druze units broke out in Suwayda on July 13. On July 15, the Syrian army entered the provincial capital of the same name and began clearing it to stabilize the situation. Shortly thereafter, Israel began striking Syrian military convoys, claiming it was seeking to protect the Druze population in the province.

The Druze are a distinct Arabic-speaking ethno-religious group whose members live in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. There are around 700,000 Druze in Syria, making them the country’s third-largest religious and ethnic minority after the Kurds and Alawites.