Israel strikes Syrian extremists in warning to new regime
Israel carried out strikes on an 'extremist group' in Syria that was preparing to attack a Druze community on the outskirts of Damascus, Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The Israeli prime minister said Wednesday's 'warning operation' was meant to send a 'serious message' to Syria's new leadership that Israel, which has a sizable Druze population, would not allow the minority to be targeted.
'The IDF has carried out a warning operation and struck elements of an extremist group that was preparing to continue attacks on the Druze population in the town of Sahnaya, in the Damascus district in Syria,' Mr Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Israel Katz, the defence minister.
Israel 'will not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria out of a deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel, who are connected by family and historical ties to their Druze brothers in Syria', the statement read.
In recent days, 13 people have been reported killed in clashes between the Druze community and militias loyal to Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian president also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the Druze spiritual leader in Israel, called for 'Jews around the world and the international community to act now, immediately, to prevent a massacre'.
'Israel must not stand by in the face of events unfolding as we speak. Israeli leaders, you must take on the burden of proof and action,' he added.
Eyal Zamir, chief of the IDF, instructed his forces to prepare to strike targets belonging to the Syrian regime 'should the violence against Druze communities continue'.
'The IDF is monitoring developments in the region, and IDF troops are deployed and prepared for defense and developments in the area of Syria.'
The IDF also said that three injured Syrian-Druze citizens were evacuated from Syria and taken to a hospital in Safed, Israel for treatment.
Israel's Druze minority are mostly located in the Galilee and the Golan Heights, which the Jewish State captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981. Many Druze have since become Israeli citizens, but some still identify as Syrian. The community numbers around 150,000 people in total. They are an Arab religious group but do not identify as Muslims.
In a statement, the Syrian government said it 'affirms its unwavering commitment to protect all components of the Syrian people... including the children of the honourable Druze community', also expressing its rejection of 'foreign interference'.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has launched hundreds of attacks across Syria aimed at destroying the Assad regime's stockpile of military hardware and chemical weapons to prevent them falling into the hands of the country's new leadership.
The Israeli military has also taken control of Syria's Mount Meron, and sent troops to occupy a buffer zone established in 1974 separating the two countries.
Israel said the seizure of Syrian territory was done to prevent jihadists from establishing themselves on the border.
On Monday, the Israeli prime minister claimed to have stopped an Iranian operation in December aimed at rescuing Assad as his country was falling to a rapid rebel offensive.
Iran wanted to send 'one or two airborne divisions' to help 'rescue Assad', Mr Netanyahu said. 'We stopped that. We sent some F-16s to some Iranian planes that were making some routes to Damascus. They turned back.'
Syria's new president has demanded that Israel stop its attacks inside his country.
'I mean, a delusional person can say whatever they want. Every person can imagine that he is suffering from some danger and carry out a preemptive strike and kill. But that is not justifiable,' Mr Al-Sharaa said.
The clashes between local militias and Druze communities is the latest in a string of sectarian violence since the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) seized power from Assad in December last year.
In early March, Alawite fighters who support Assad launched attacks against HTS forces in Syria's coastal region, killing hundreds of security forces and civilians.
In return, government forces stormed into Alawite towns and cities, massacring hundreds of civilians and fighters. More than 1,000 people were killed in four days of sectarian clashes.
President Al-Sharaa ordered an investigation into the killings shortly after but the fact finding committee is yet to publish its report.
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