{"id":28668,"date":"2026-03-20T18:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/28668\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T18:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:07:07","slug":"israel-strikes-syria-under-pretext-of-protecting-druze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/28668\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel strikes Syria under pretext of ‘protecting’ Druze"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Israel has launched frequent airstrikes against Syria after the fall of Assad [Getty]<\/p>\n

Israel <\/a>said it carried out airstrikes on Syrian army<\/a> positions overnight on Thursday, claiming the attacks were in response to violence against Druze <\/a>civilians in southern Syria, amid intensifying clashes in Suweida <\/a>province.<\/p>\n

“Overnight, the IDF struck a headquarters and weapons at Syrian regime military camps in southern Syria,” the Israeli military said, according to AFP.<\/p>\n

Clashes in Suweida erupted on Thursday between government forces and allied tribal fighters and Druze factions, according to local sources.<\/p>\n

Syrian state media did not acknowledge the clashes or the Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IDF will not allow harm to come to Druze in Syria and will continue to act for their protection,\u201d a statement from the Israeli military said.<\/p>\n

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that “we will not allow the Syrian regime to exploit our war against Iran and Hezbollah to harm the Druze. If necessary, we will strike with even greater force”.<\/p>\n

Since the fall of the regime of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel has launched frequent strikes on Syria and captured areas beyond the Golan Heights – Syrian territory it occupied in 1967.<\/p>\n

It frequently uses its stated desire to protect Syria’s Druze community as a pretext for intervention and has previously advocated the partitioning of Syria along ethnic and sectarian lines.<\/p>\n

Israel moved forces into the UN-monitored buffer zone on the Golan Heights after Assad\u2019s fall and has since conducted hundreds of strikes across Syrian territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latest escalation comes as regional tensions remain high following the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on 28 February.<\/p>\n

The current wave of violence in Suweida traces back to 13 July, when clashes first broke out between Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze groups.<\/p>\n

Syrian government forces were deployed to contain the unrest, but the situation deteriorated further, with Israel intervening militarily during the clashes and government forces accused of committing war crimes.<\/p>\n

Since then, most of Suweida province has been under the control of local Druze militias opposed to the Syrian government and sympathetic to Israel.<\/p>\n

In a speech following Eid al-Fitr prayers in Damascus, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said he was working to keep Syria out of wider conflict.<\/p>\n

“It is important to remember that Syria has always been an arena of conflict and strife during the past 15 years and before that, but today it is in harmony with all neighbouring countries regionally and internationally,” he said.<\/p>\n

He added that Syria stood “in full solidarity with the Arab states”.<\/p>\n

Under US mediation, Israel and Syria agreed in January to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism in a rare step aimed at easing decades of hostility.<\/p>\n

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