Israel launched air strikes against security forces of the new Syrian regime in the province of As Suwayda (Suwayda) after the Syrian defence minister sent troops into Druze settlements on Tuesday.
The conflict between the new central government and the Druze living in the south near the border with Israel and Jordan has been escalating in recent days. Several moderately bearded patrols were ambushed and destroyed by local militias, prompting a retaliatory punitive operation by the militants.
Israel, which views the Druze as a convenient lever of influence on the new regime in Damascus, warned that it was ready to defend the Druze and has now moved from words to action.
The Druze from southern Syria previously played a key role in the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa in December 2024. They simply seized power in their province and then struck at Damascus’s unprotected rear, reaching the capital even before the Islamist militants advancing from Idlib.
