At least four Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday targeted security personnel in Ashrafieh Sahnaya, a source from the Syrian Ministry of Interior, according to a source familiar with the matter.
In a statement, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates rebuffed “all forms of foreign intervention,” but did not specifically accuse Israel of carrying out the attacks. The Foreign Ministry continued in its statement that Syria “affirms its unwavering commitment to protect all aspects of the Syrian people, including the children of the honorable Druze community.”
Israel acknowledged that it had carried out a strike in Syria against alleged “extremists” who had attacked Druze people, and that it had followed through on a promise to defend the minority group.
Three Syrian Druze citizens have been taken out of Syria, according to the military, to be treated in Israel.
Following two days of deadly fighting between members of the Syrian government loyalists and members of the Druze military council, the strikes were launched.
Hussam al-Tahhan, the country’s director of security, disclosed to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency that a security operation had been launched there and that reinforcements had been dispatched to ensure the return of “security and stability” to the area’s neighborhoods.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 16 security forces and six fighters were killed on Wednesday. On Tuesday, at least 17 people were killed, including 10 members of the security forces.
Extreme panic
The strike on Ashrafieh Sahnaya, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a “stern message” to the new government in Syria, led by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa.
He claimed that Israel hoped that they would stop the Druze community from suffering.
In the event that the Druze community is the subject of additional violence, Israel’s head of armed forces later gave the military instructions to get ready to attack Syrian government targets.
Leaders of the Syrian Druze have consistently resisted Israeli intervention and pledged to support a united Syria.
In the largely Druze-dominant area of Jaramana, clashes between Druze and Sunni groups erupted on Tuesday, which were sparked by an audio clip that was posted on social media attacking the Prophet Muhammad.
A Druze leader was responsible for the recording. The Druze community’s spiritual leader in Jaramana criticized the recording, claiming that it was made to “incite division and division among the people of the same nation.”
Despite calling for inclusiveness and national unity, Syria’s new rulers, former opposition fighters who led the rebellion that overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, have struggled to maintain security for the country’s minorities.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes into Syria since al-Assad was overthrown in December, stepping up attacks it had carried out regularly in previous years, and has deployed troops. to the occupied Golan Heights in a buffer zone designated by the UN.
With minorities already enthralled by the horrifying bloodshed last month, the most recent incidents only serve to heighten sectarian tension in Syria.
In a wave of vigilante attacks in the northern regions of Tartous and Latakia governorates, hundreds of people were killed in clashes with security forces in March.
Extreme panic
Sahnaya residents reported intense street fighting on Wednesday.
Elias Hanna, who resides on the edge of Sahnaya, described the indiscriminate shelling as making us feel extremely anxious and fearful.
We worry that the massacres against the Druze on the coast in Sahnaya will continue, he said.
UN Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he is “deeply concerned” by the violence there, particularly in the Homs and the suburbs of the capital Damascus.
He demanded immediate action to stop civilian casualties from being incited and prevent communal tensions from being sparked.
Israel must stop its aerial assaults on Syria, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source: Aljazeera
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