Israel announced it had carried out an airstrike in Syria against an unnamed group that attacked a Druze community. Airstrikes also targeted a Syrian military site in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, as well as hitting unknown targets in Deraa province in southern Syria and Hama province in northwestern Syria. In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military had carried out “a warning operation and struck an extremist group.”
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” a statement by the Israeli government said.
The airstrikes come in the wake of clashes between Druze fighters and Syrian forces, including government-affiliated groups, in the Damascus suburbs of Jaramana and Sweida province in southern Syria. Unconfirmed reports have put the death toll from the fighting at over 100.
On Friday, the IAF carried out airstrikes near the official residential compound of Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus. The strike was “a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow (Syrian) forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a former member of Al Qaeda. He ousted former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
IDF troops were deployed in southern Syria to prevent the return of hostile forces and to defend areas around Druze villages. Five Syrian-Druze citizens were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel after sustaining wounds. The five were taken to Ziv Hospital in Safed, where at least 10 other wounded Syrian Druze were taken in recent days.
On Friday night, an IDF helicopter delivered humanitarian aid to Syrian Druze in the Sweida area of southern Syria, some 70 kilometers from Israel’s border.
On Saturday, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews said it delivered, via the IDF, some 1,500 packages of food for Druze and Christian Syrians in villages near the Israeli border.
The non-profit said it would also deliver medical equipment soon, in coordination with the IDF.
Israeli Druze staged protests in Jerusalem on Thursday and Friday, demanding that the government take action to protect the Druze in Syria. Druze serving in the Israeli military wrote to Netanyahu demanding help for their kin in Syria, saying “hundreds of fighters” were ready to volunteer to help.
Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, requested that Marc Zell, chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, request that President Trump and members of Congress back international diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the violence targeting Druze civilians in Syria.
A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement condemned “all forms of foreign intervention” in Syrian internal affairs and declared the government’s commitment to protecting all its citizens, “including the noble Druze sect.”
Since the establishment of the state of Israel, the Druze have been volunteering in the IDF. In 1956, following an agreement with the head of the Druze community, a law was passed obligating Druze men to join the IDF. Today, 83% of Druze men serve in the military, with 60% serving in combat units—rates that are higher than those of the Jewish population.
Druze officers have attained high ranks in Israel’s security forces. But this service has come at a high price. Over 505 have fallen serving in the IDF, and over 1,500 were injured.
Druze consider themselves the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. According to Nachmanides, a leading medieval Jewish scholar, the descendants of Jethro received a portion of land in Israel, specifically the fertile land surrounding Jericho, just like the tribes of Jacob. They assisted in conquering the land when the Jews entered 40 years after Sinai. Also, according to Jewish tradition, Jethro’s granddaughter married Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron, the High Priest.
Despite accompanying the Jews since Mount Sinai, little is known about the Druze. 143,000 Druze live in villages scattered around northern Israel and have a principle of not seeking to rule, but rather to aid their host country. A religious minority wherever they live, they are secretive about their religious teachings. Some of what is known is inaccurate.
