Syria promises to ‘protect all components’ of society, including Druze, after Israel launches air raids near Damascus.
Syrian authorities have decried “foreign intervention” in Syrian affairs after Israel launched air attacks on a town near Damascus where government forces and several other groups had taken part in deadly clashes.
A Syrian Ministry of Interior source told Al Jazeera Arabic that at least four Israeli air strikes targeted security personnel in the mainly Druze town of Ashrafieh Sahnaya on Wednesday.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, in a statement, rejected “all forms of foreign intervention”, but did not explicitly accuse Israel of carrying out the attacks. Syria “affirms its unwavering commitment to protect all components of the Syrian people … including the children of the honourable Druze community,” the Foreign Ministry added in its statement.
Israel said it had carried out a strike in Syria against so-called “extremists” who attacked members of the Druze community, following through on what it said was a promise to protect the minority group.
The military said that three Syrian Druze citizens had been evacuated from Syria to receive medical treatment in Israel.
The strikes came following confrontations between Syrian government loyalists and members of the Druze military council that killed dozens of people in two days.
The director of security for the Damascus countryside, Hussam al-Tahhan, told Syria’s state-run SANA news agency that a security operation was launched there and that reinforcements were sent to ensure the return of “security and stability” to the area’s neighbourhoods.
At least 16 security forces and six fighters were killed on Wednesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor. At least 17 people, including 10 security forces, were killed on Tuesday.
‘Extreme panic’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike on the town of Ashrafieh Sahnaya sent a “stern message” to Syria’s new government, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community”, he said.
Israel’s armed forces chief later ordered the military to prepare to strike Syrian government targets if the Druze community faces more violence.
Syrian Druze leaders have repeatedly rejected Israeli intervention and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.
The latest violence erupted on Tuesday with clashes between Druze and Sunni groups in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana, ignited by an audio clip attacking the Prophet Muhammad that was circulated on social media.
The recording was attributed to a Druze leader. The spiritual authority for the Druze community in Jaramana condemned the recording, insisting it was fabricated “to incite sedition and sow division among the people of the same nation”.
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, despite urging national unity and inclusivity.
Since al-Assad was overthrown in December, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes into Syria, stepping up attacks that it also carried out routinely in previous years, and has deployed troops to a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the occupied Golan Heights.
The latest incidents only serve to increase the sectarian tension in Syria, with minorities already on edge following horrifying bloodshed last month.
After al-Assad loyalists from the Alawite community clashed with security forces in March, hundreds of people were killed in a wave of vigilante attacks in the northern areas of Tartous and Latakia governorates.
‘Extreme panic’
Residents of Sahnaya reported intense street fighting throughout Wednesday.
“We’re in extreme panic and fear because of the indiscriminate shelling, which is forcing most of us to stay totally shuttered inside our homes,” said Elias Hanna, who lives on the edge of Sahnaya.
“We’re worried that the massacres of the coast will repeat themselves near Sahnaya against the Druze,” he said.
Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy to Syria, is “deeply concerned” by violence in the country, especially in the suburbs of the capital Damascus and in Homs,” the United Nations said.
He called for immediate measures to ensure the protection of civilians and prevent incitement of communal tensions.
Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded that Israel “cease its aerial strikes” on Syria.
“At this sensitive time for Syria, the duty of the international community is to contribute to the establishment of security and stability in Syria,” ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement. “Given this context, Israel must put an end to its air strikes, which are damaging the country’s efforts to achieve unity and integrity.”