Syria stated Israel launched new strikes close to Damascus on Wednesday, after sectarian clashes left almost 40 lifeless in two days and Israel warned towards assaults concentrating on the Druze minority.
The sectarian violence and Israel’s intervention current large challenges to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and comply with massacres final month in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland.
United Nations particular envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen condemned the violence as “unacceptable” and expressed alarm at “the potential for further escalation of an extremely fragile situation”.
State information company SANA reported “Israeli occupation strikes on the vicinity” of Sahnaya, southwest of the capital.
Deadly sectarian clashes erupted in a single day in Sahnaya, dwelling to Druze and Christian residents.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor stated six native Druze fighters had been killed within the clashes whereas the inside ministry reported 16 General Security forces lifeless after “outlaw groups” attacked authorities positions and checkpoints.
The earlier evening, eight Druze fighters and 9 gunmen linked to the authorities had been killed in Jaramana, a primarily Druze and Christian suburb southeast of the capital, the Observatory stated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated his nation had carried out “warning action”, hanging “an extremist group preparing to attack the Druze population” in Sahnaya.
“A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime — Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community,” stated an announcement from Netanyahu’s workplace.
Israel had beforehand warned Syria’s Islamist rulers towards harming the Druze, who’re additionally current in Lebanon and Israel.
The Israeli military on Wednesday stated troops had been instructed to “prepare to strike” Syrian authorities targets “should the violence against Druze communities continue”.
In a later assertion, the Israeli army stated that three Syrian Druze had been “evacuated from Syria to receive medical treatment in Israel”.
Syria’s overseas ministry in the meantime vowed to “protect all components” of society, together with the Druze, and expressed its rejection of “foreign interference”.
‘Iron fist’
SANA reported Wednesday night {that a} “security operation” within the Sahnaya space had ended and General Security personnel deployed there to “restore security and stability”.
Jaramana and Sahnaya are surrounded by Sunni-majority areas.
The violence was sparked by the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous.
AFP was unable to verify the recording’s authenticity.
The inside ministry had stated authorities would “strike with an iron fist all those who seek to destabilise Syria’s security”, SANA reported.
Sahnaya activist Samer Rafaa stated “we didn’t sleep… mortar shells are falling on our homes”.
Syria’s new Islamist authorities, who’ve roots within the Al-Qaeda jihadist community, have vowed inclusive rule within the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic nation, however should additionally contend with pressures from radical Islamists inside their ranks.
Israel, which sees Syria’s new forces as jihadists, has continued to launch a whole bunch of strikes on army websites in Syria since Assad’s downfall.
It has additionally despatched troops into the demilitarised buffer zone of the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights and voiced help for Syria’s Druze.
Key Syria backer Turkey has accused Israel of stirring up divisions and turning minorities towards Damascus.
Lebanese Druze chief Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday urged Syria’s Druze to “reject Israeli interference”.
Syria’s prime Muslim cleric Osama al-Rifai warned that “if strife ignites in our country… all of us will lose”.
Analyst Michael Horowitz advised AFP that “by positioning itself as a protector of the Druze community, Israel hopes both to find local allies” and “to carry weight at a time when Syria’s future remains uncertain”.
“Local allies can also be seen as an element that enables the reduction of the authority of a central government that Israel, right or wrong, sees as a Turkish vassal and a potential enemy,” he added.
Jaramana
Druze fighter Karam, 27, declining to offer his full title, had advised AFP that “restoring calm will require great effort”.
In Jaramana, calm returned on Tuesday as Syria’s authorities promised Druze leaders to pursue these accountable for the violence, which it blamed on “gunmen”.
An AFP photographer stated mourners raised Druze flags on the funeral Wednesday for seven fighters from Jaramana.
Druze representatives have declared their loyalty to a united Syria after earlier Israeli warnings.
Last month’s massacres on the coast, the place the Observatory stated safety forces and allied teams killed greater than 1,700 civilians, largely Alawites, had been the worst bloodshed because the December ouster of Assad, who’s from the minority neighborhood.
The authorities accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence by attacking safety forces, and has launched an inquiry.
Published – May 01, 2025 05:16 am IST
