THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Israeli airstrikes on Damascus are hampering Syria's efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser said on Thursday.

Israel said it took military action in support of Syria’s Druze population which has been involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces in recent days. The move sent US officials scrambling to prevent a larger escalation between the two Middle East nations.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country's nearly 14-year civil war.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

A series of airstrikes has hit the Syrian capital Damascus, with Syrian state media blaming Israel. One video from a Syrian television channel shows the Ministry of Defense building being hit live on air, forcing the anchor to take cover. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz shared the footage, saying “the painful blows have begun.”

The dayslong fighting has threatened to unravel Syria’s postwar political transition and brought in further military intervention by Israel.

Syria completely reopened its airspace on June 24, its civil air authority said. Damascus Airport's two runways were damaged during the civil war but have since been repaired. The airport was also looted during the chaos of Assad's fall.