Israel carried out waves of airstrikes against terrorists and military targets in Syria, including the capital city of Damascus, after jihadists — reportedly backed by the new Islamist regime — launched attacks on the country’s non-Muslim Druze minority, killing at least 100 people in two days of fighting.
“Israel struck an area adjacent to the presidential palace in Damascus, the official residence of Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, in a warning to the regime that Jerusalem is committed to protecting the country’s Druze minority,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Saturday.
The strikes were also meant as a warning to Syria’s new Islamist regime, which has been responsible for recent massacres against Druze and other minorities. The strikes “near the presidential palace in Damascus … is 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,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Friday.
Druze are a tiny Arab minority spread largely across Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. They are considered ‘infidels’ by Islamists and face persecution from surrounding Muslim populations.
The Times of Israel reported Saturday morning:
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets had carried out a wave of airstrikes in Syria late Friday, less than a day after Israel attacked near the presidential palace in Damascus, amid Israeli warnings to Syria’s new Islamist rulers not to harm their country’s Druze minority following deadly sectarian clashes.The strikes late Friday targeted “a military site, anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missile infrastructure,” the IDF said in a statement, as the Kan public broadcaster reported that Israel was readying a list of military and government targets to potentially attack in Syria. (…)The Israeli strikes came after Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to Damascus, following clashes between Druze fighters and Syrian forces, including government-affiliated groups, in the Damascus suburbs of Jaramana and in Sweida province in southern Syria.
Earlier this week, armed Islamist gangs began targeting the Druze community in southern Syria, accusing them of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The trouble started “after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man attacking Prophet Muhammad. It was attributed to Marwan Kiwan, a Druze cleric, who later denied being involved,” the French TV channel Euronews noted earlier this week. “The clip angered many Sunni Muslims and led to the fighting in the predominantly Druze Jaramana.”
The Islamist attackers appear to have links to the new Syrian regime led by Ahmed al-Shara, formerly known as Al Jolani.”Unidentified armed groups began attacking the Druze-majority town of Jaramana near the Syrian capital Damascus. Observers say some attackers may well have been connected to the new, interim Syrian government’s security forces,” the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle observed.
Syrian and Arab media reports confirmed the latest Israeli strikes on military targets belonging to the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime. Since the fall of the Iran-backed Assad regime in early December 2024, the Israeli Air Force has conducted hundreds of strikes on Syrian military sites in a bid to prevent abandoned weapons and capabilities from falling into the hands of jihadist and other terrorist groups.
“The Syrian state news agency SANA reported Friday that Israeli fighter jets struck the village of Shtaha in the Hama province of northwestern Syria,” the Israeli news website Ynetnews reported Saturday. “According to the Saudi-owned Al-Hadath channel, the target was an air defense base that previously served the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.”
With Hamas refusing to negotiate the release of remaining hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has approved a plan to expand the military operation in Hamas-infested Gaza.
Since Israel renewed the ground operation almost four weeks ago, the IDF has taken control of nearly 30 percent of Gaza, including the Morag Corridor separating Hamas strongholds of Rafah and Khan Younis, and the strategic Philadelphi Corridor, the main terrorist supply route from Egypt.
Israeli troops have also retaken the Netzarim Corridor, establishing a buffer zone dividing northern Gaza from the south, and thereby preventing Hamas from moving weapons and terrorists across the enclave.
The news website Ynetnews reported the details of the Israeli military plan:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded a multi-hour security meeting Friday evening on the continuation of fighting in Gaza, during which it was decided to expand the IDF’s operations in the strip.An Israeli official said after the meeting, “As long as Hamas does not release our hostages, we will significantly deepen our military action. That is what will happen—unless Hamas agrees at the last moment to a deal and releases the hostages.”On Sunday, the security cabinet is expected to approve the operational plans, which include a broader mobilization of reservists. In recent days, many reserve commanders have instructed their units to prepare for unexpected call-ups.The reservists will be divided into two main groups: battalions designated for offensive and frontline missions deep inside Gaza, and brigades that will replace regular army units redeployed into the Strip to spearhead the new phase of operations.The cabinet plans, which are not expected to involve a full-scale ground invasion or reoccupation of Gaza, are seen as another significant step in the ongoing campaign. Friday’s meeting came after Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir approved the expansion plans, which Netanyahu has now personally authorized ahead of Sunday’s vote.Israeli officials said Thursday that negotiations over a potential hostage deal are nearing exhaustion, and the likelihood of a breakthrough appears to be diminishing. If Hamas continues to reject the terms, officials warned, Israel will escalate its military offensive.
The news comes as gangs of Palestinian arsonists are setting wildfires around Jerusalem and eastern Israel after Hamas called on them to resume the campaign of eco-terrorism.
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