Israel says it carried out strike to protect Druze in Syria, warns Damascus to ensure their safety

The IDF carried out a strike on an armed group preparing to attack a Druze community in the town of Sahnaya in Syria’s Damascus province, say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz in a joint statement.

They call the strike a “warning operation.”

Israel also conveys a “serious message” to Syria’s leadership: “Israel expects it to act to prevent harm to the Druze.”

More than a dozen people were killed in a predominantly Druze town near the Syrian capital on Tuesday in clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad, which angered Sunni gunmen, rescuers and security sources said.

The fighting marked the latest episode of deadly sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minorities have been swelling since Islamist-led rebels ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad from power in December, installing their own government and security forces.

“On Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers,” says the Israeli statement, “when we honor the great contribution of the Druze community to Israel’s security and the memory of the Druze fallen who risked their lives to defend Israel, we see great importance in fulfilling our commitment to the Druze community in Israel and to protecting their brothers in Syria.”

“Israel will not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria out of a deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel,” Netanyahu and Katz say, “who are connected by family and historical ties to their Druze brothers in Syria.”