Israel said Monday that it had carried out airstrikes on Syrian tanks advancing toward the border region — and toward Druze villages that former jihadist forces linked to the government are suspected of targeting.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman published video of the airstrikes, and only mentioned the threats the tanks posed to Israel itself.
However, Israeli news sources reported that Israel was also acting to protect Druze Arab villages in Syria, which have been threatened by Sunni extremists — as have Christians and Alawites elsewhere in Syria.
The Times of Israel reported:
Israel has previously vowed to protect members of Syria’s Druze community. Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday’s strike was “a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime; We will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria.”
…
A statement from Druze religious authorities had called for local fighters to lay down their arms.
But influential Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who had initially welcomed the entry of government forces, later called in a statement for “resisting this brutal campaign by all available means.”
Israel has a large population of Druze Arabs, who live in the mountainous area that includes areas of Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. The Israeli Druze serve in the IDF and are loyal to the State of Israel.
As Breitbart News has reported, Israel has been sending aid to Syrian Druze villages, some of which asked Israel to take over the area after the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed in December.
The latest clashes come as the U.S. is attempting to broker peace between Syria and Israel as part of a regional deal.
New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is attempting to show a moderate face to the West — but his forces may be indicating that al-Sharaa’s regime has more sinister nature, as many critics had feared.
Update: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement on Tuesday:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have directed the IDF to immediately attack the regime forces and the weaponry that entered the Sweida area of the Druze Mountain in Syria, and that the regime intended to use against the Druze – which was done in contravention of the demilitarization policy they decided on, of preventing the entry of forces and weaponry that endangers Israel in the southern region of Syria.
Israel is committed to preventing harm being inflicted on the Druze in Syria, owing to the deep covenant of blood with our Druze citizens in Israel and their historical and familial link to the Druze in Syria. We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them, and to ensure the demilitarization of the region adjacent to our border with Syria.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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