JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense ministry announced on Saturday that the military has been directed to protect a Druze community located in the suburbs of Damascus, asserting that this minority group, which Israel has pledged to shield, is “under attack” from Syrian government forces.
The announcement, referencing a directive from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, follows an earlier warning from Israel to the recently established Syrian government and the insurgent faction responsible for last year’s toppling of former President Bashar Assad. The warning cautioned them to refrain from entering the region located south of Damascus.
The latest statement suggests that Israeli forces may extend their reach further into Syria as the new government endeavors to consolidate control after over a decade of civil conflict. Recently, Israeli forces established posts in a buffer zone and on the strategically important Mt. Hermon nearby. Thus far, there have been no significant skirmishes between Israeli troops and Syria’s new government forces.
“We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze. If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us,” said the statement. However, there has been no immediate response from the Syrian government.
The Druze, a religious minority residing in southern Syria and Israel’s Golan Heights, find themselves managing their traditionally Syrian identity while living under Israeli governance.
Israel’s statement followed an incident of unrest in the Druze settlement of Jaramana on Friday. This was triggered when a member of the security forces entered and fired shots into the air, leading to a gunfight with local gunmen that resulted in his death.
On Saturday, gunmen originating from the Damascus suburb of Mleiha arrived in Jaramana, clashing with Druze gunmen. This confrontation left one Druze fighter dead and nine others injured, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war-monitoring group based in Britain.
The previous Sunday, Israel had issued a clear warning to Syrian forces and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a prominent former rebel organization, indicating that Israeli forces would remain in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite duration.
“We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and Sweida from the forces of the new regime,” the earlier statement declared. “Likewise, we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria.”
Following the collapse of Assad’s government in December, Israel took control of the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian terrain, which was established under a 1974 ceasefire agreement. Both Syria’s new authorities and U.N. officials have urged Israel to withdraw.
In the meantime, Netanyahu’s administration faces pressure to safeguard Israelis residing near northern border areas, as it endeavors to facilitate the return of northern residents to their homes.
