The IDF conducted an airstrike in Damascus adjacent to the area of the Palace of Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus,” without specifying the target, the military confirmed.
לפני זמן קצר, מטוסי קרב תקפו במרחב הסמוך לארמונו של אחמד חוסיין א-שרע בדמשק
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 2, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that this was due to Israel not allowing any danger to the Druze community, their offices announced in a joint statement, according to Maariv.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” they said.
It marks the second time Israel has struck Syria in as many days, following through on a promise to defend the minority group, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, the strikes reflect Israel’s deep mistrust of the Sunni Islamists who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, posing a further challenge to interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa‘s efforts to establish control over the fractured nation.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s Druze community protested against anti-Druze violence in Syria.
The Druze adhere to a faith that is an offshoot of Islam and have followers in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
Since Assad was ousted in December, Israel has seized ground in the southwest, vowed to protect the Druze, lobbied Washington to keep the neighboring state weak, and has blown up much of the Syrian army’s heavy weapons in the days after he was toppled.
Sharaa, who was an al-Qaeda commander before renouncing ties to the group in 2016, has repeatedly vowed to govern Syria in an inclusive way. But incidents of sectarian violence, including the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now dominant Islamists.
This week’s sectarian violence began on Tuesday with clashes between Druze and Sunni gunmen in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana, sparked by a voice recording cursing the Prophet Mohammad and which the Sunni militants suspected was made by a Druze.
More than a dozen people were reported killed on Tuesday, before the violence spread to the mainly Druze town of Sahnaya on Damascus’ outskirts on Wednesday.
US against Syrian sectarianism
On Thursday evening, US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated that “The recent violence and inflammatory rhetoric targeting members of the Druze community in Syria is reprehensible and unacceptable.”
“The interim authorities must stop the fighting, hold perpetrators of violence and civilian harm accountable for their actions, and ensure the security of all Syrians,” Bruce added.
“Sectarianism will only sink Syria and the region into chaos and more violence. We have seen that Syrians can solve their disputes peacefully through negotiations. We call for a representative future government that protects and integrates all of Syria’s communities, including ethnic and religious minorities.”
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