Israel strikes near Syria palace to support Druze minority

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday said Israel conducted airstrikes near Syria’s presidential palace on Thursday night as a warning to its government. Israel was sending the message that Syria’s president should protect members of the Druze minority, Katz said.

How did we get here? The strikes came after a week of clashes between Syrian security forces and Druze in the outskirts of Damascus and southern Syria. At least 30 Druze died in the fighting, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Twenty-six Syrian government soldiers were also killed, the watchdog said. The violence began after a video criticizing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad circulated on social media. The video was initially attributed to a Druze cleric who has since denied responsibility for the video, according to Israeli news.

Israel on Wednesday responded to the escalating violence against Druze by carrying out an attack on what it said was an extremist group preparing to strike Druze in Sahnaya, a town southwest of Damascus. At least 11 people died, most of them members of Syria’s security forces, the Associated Press reported.

Who are the Druze? The religious minority group follows a unique offshoot of Shiite Islam. Most of the roughly 1 million Druze live in Syria, concentrated in the southern Suweida province and Damascus suburbs. Other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, according to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Why did Israel intervene? Katz said it was Israel’s duty to protect Druze in Syria from attacks by jihadist forces, since the Druze contribute so much to his country’s security. Eighty percent of the Israeli Druze serve in the Israel Defense Forces, with 39% in combat roles, according to the IDF.

Did the Syrian Druze ask for help? A major Druze religious leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, said Wednesday that the Druze faced genocide and no longer trusted the Syrian government. He called for international intervention in his statement, as released by local news network Suwayda 24.

But the next day, Al-Hijri and other Druze religious leaders agreed with the Syrian military to stop the fighting and reopen a major highway, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A Druze committee near Damascus also released a statement rejecting Israeli intervention and saying they were proud Syrians, The Media Line reported.

How did the Syrian government respond? The government did not directly respond to the Israeli strikes on Friday morning. But Foreign Minister Assad Al-Shaibani in a Thursday social media post said foreign intervention in Syria would cause further deterioration in the region.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s controversial comments on the goal of the Israel-Hamas war.