Click to see full-size image. Via X.
Israel conducted a strike early on May 2 near the Syrian Republican Palace, the official residence of president Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus in response to recent violence against the country’s Druze religious minority.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Katz later wrote on X that the strikes were a “clear warning to the Syrian regime. When Jolani [al-Sharaa] wakes up in the morning and sees the results of the Israeli Air Force fighter jets’ strike, he understands that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria.”
“It is his duty to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from attacks by jihadist rioters and to enable the hundreds of thousands of Druze in Sweida and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves on their own, and not to send jihadist forces into the villages,” Katz continued. “It is our duty to protect the Druze in Syria from harm, for the sake of our Druze brothers in Israel, their loyalty to the state, and their immense contribution to Israel’s security.”
The strike came following several days of clashes between forces of Syria’s Islamist-led interim government and Druze fighters near Damascus.
The clashes erupted around the Druze-majority town of Jaramana, and later in the nearby town of Sahnaya after an audio recording of an alleged Druze man insulting the Islamic prophet Mohamad surfaced online. Israel launched warning strikes during the fighting, but government forces were able to take over Sahnaya where many violations, including summary executions were later reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 21 deaths in the past 24 hours and 101 in recent days. According to the London-based monitoring group, most were killed in the clashes near Damascus, including nine Druze civilians who were executed by government forces.
Click to see full-size image. Via X.
The spiritual leader of the Druze in Syria Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri on May 1 condemned what he called a “genocidal campaign” by the government against his people, calling for “international protection” for all minorities in the country.
Later on the same day, Druze representatives in Jaraman signed an agreement with the government to hand over heavy weapons and to reinforce the presence of government forces in the town.
Separately, the governor of al-Suwayda, the heartland of Druze, claimed that an agreement allowing the entry of government forces to the southern governorate for the first time since the fall of the al-Assad regime and the rise to power of al-Sharaa.
Videos showing large convoys heading to al-Suwayda were posted to social networks, but the forces didn’t enter the governorate. There were even reports of attacks being repelled by Druze fighters.
At a meeting of Druze leaders, elders, and armed groups in al-Suwayda , the community agreed it was “an inseparable part of the unified Syrian homeland,” a spokesperson said.
“We reject partition, separation, or disengagement,” he added, without clarifying if the community had indeed accepted the deployment of government forces in the governorate.
Israel took over the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights hours after the fall of the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad last December. It later launched hundreds of strikes against the country, destroying much of its military infrastructure and offensive capabilities.
Since then, Israeli leaders have formulated a strict policy on Syria with several red lines to Sharaa, including defending the Druze, not allowing any military presence in the southern region, and preventing Turkey, the main backer of the interim government, from establishing any bases in the central and western regions.
Any further escalation by the government against Druze will likely lead to a costly confrontation with Israel. While Sharaa appears to be well aware of this, the situation could still slip out of control.
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i think that despite a good effort, the us has succeeded in destroying another arab country. its leaders are israeli stooges. its lands carved up between turkey, russia, usa, and israel. any semblance of stability is gone.
h ttp s://w ww .zer oh edge.com/geop olitical/glo bal-silence-ami d-hts-all ies-take-alaw ite-wome n-sex-slave s-s yria
israel doesn’t give a rats arse about the druze it’s what i predicted a long time ago an excuse to steal more land, the druze like the kurds always had a choice to do the rigt thing and side with assad to defend syria but they did the opposite and collaborated with the us and israel and in the case of the druze collaborated with hts the people who are now killing them, good luck you morons you are going to need it.
as far as i know the druze are the only people in isreal who get along with the jews and even join there military. so there could be some pressure from those druze to help the ones in syria.
the zionists made sure their puppet was not home when they bombed the syrian presidential palace. they must keep up illusions while they rejoice in any non jewish death.
peace in the levant is impossible because of zionists. they should pack up go to jew york city. problem solved
they were left without their khazaria, which was never part of the us
i hope the israelis kill this terrorist boss.
tell me where are the strikes of “goods own country” usa the “new rome” eu and the “succesor or eastern rome” russia to tell the same regime that strikes on christians are not ok too? where is the former protector of the alevites france doing the same for them?
er-dog-an only barking, it must send 6 c130 full of weapons over the teeth to the syria too after pakistan
syria thanks its “great ally” russia!!!
protection of the druze is just a new hasbara excuse / label to illegally drop more bombs on syrians