Israel strikes near Syria’s presidential palace, issues warning over Druze

After accusing Syria’s president of failing to protect its Druze minority from sectarian violence, Israel’s military launched air strikes close to the presidential palace in Damascus.

The attack, which occurred early on Friday, was Israel’s second of its kind this week, and it is thought to send a strong message to Syria’s transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Shortly after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz shared a message to the Syrian regime: “We will not allow]Syrian forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community.”

This week saw more than 100 fatalities in Syria’s conflict between pro-government forces and Druze fighters.

Syria’s Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who demanded an immediate response from “international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes,” has labeled the violence as a “genocidal campaign.”

Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, urged the international community to “fulfil its role in protecting the minorities in Syria, particularly the Druze, from the regime and its gangs of terror,” on Thursday.

Israel has increased its support for the Druze minority this week and has previously described Syria’s transitional government as a “terror group from Idlib that took Damascus by force.”

The Druze minority, who were allies of Israel for many years, is a descendant of a branch of Shia Islam from the 10th century and resides primarily in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

Asaad al-Shaibani, the foreign minister of Syria, called for “national unity” on Thursday as “the solid foundation for any process of stability or revival.”

He wrote on X that “any call for external intervention, under any pretext or slogan, only leads to further division and division.”

The government of al-Sharaa, who led a coalition of rebel groups to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, faces one of the most pressing issues ever as a result of the sectarian violence.

Since then, there has been sectarian violence in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that more than 1, 700 civilians from the Alawite community were killed in March by security forces and allies.

The Alawites, who have traditionally settled in western Syria close to the Mediterranean coast, belong to the same ethnic group as al-Assad.