Israel bombed an area near the presidential palace in Damascus early on Friday, in its clearest warning yet to Syria's new Islamist-led authorities of its readiness to ramp up military action in the name of the country's Druze minority.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel’s air force struck near Syria’s presidential palace early Friday, hours after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by members of a minority sect in the southern part of the nation.

In recent days, more than 100 people have died in clashes involving multiple parties — Sunni extremists not fully under the government’s control, forces of the new government and militiamen from the c