Syrian authorities have denounced “foreign intervention” in the Syrian issue after Israel launched an air attack in a town near Damascus where government forces and several other groups took part in the fatal clash.
A source from the Syrian interior ministry told Al Jazeera Arabic on Wednesday that at least four Israeli Air Force targeted security guards, mainly from the town of Druze, Ashurafie Sanaya.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry and the Expatriate Ministry rejected “all forms of foreign intervention” in a statement, but did not explicitly accuse Israel of conducting the attack. Syria “affirms its unwavering commitment to protecting all elements of the Syrian people, including children from the honorable Druze community,” the Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
Israel said it had struck in Syria against so-called “extremists” who attacked members of the Druze community, following its promise to protect minority groups.
The military said three Syrian Druze citizens would evacuate Syria and receive treatment in Israel.
The strike follows a conflict between Syrian government loyalists and members of the Druze military council, who killed dozens of people in two days.
Husam al-Tahan, security director for the countryside of Damascus, told Syrian state-run SANA news agency that a security operation has been launched and its reinforcements have been sent to ensure the return of “security and stability” to nearby areas of the region.
At least 16 security forces and six fighter jets were killed on Wednesday, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, a British-based war monitor. At least 17 people were killed on Tuesday, including 10 security forces.
“Extreme panic”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike on the town of Asurafie Sanaya sent a “severe message” to Syrian new government.
“Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community,” he said.
The Israeli military chief later ordered the troops to prepare to attack Syrian government targets if the Druze community faces more violence.
Syrian Druze leaders repeatedly refused Israeli intervention and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.
The latest violence broke out on Tuesday, causing clashes between Druze and Sunni groups in Jaramana’s predominantly Druze region, sparking an audio clip attacking the Prophet Muhammad, which was circulated on social media.
The recording was attributed to the Druze leader. The spiritual authority of the Druze community in Jaramana condemned the recording, claiming that it was “to incite inciting instigation and sow division among people in the same country.”
The former opposition fighters who led the rebellion that overcame Syria’s new ruler, Bashar al-Assad, in December, struggled to maintain the security of the country’s minorities, despite spurring national unity and inclusiveness.
Since Al-Assad overthrowed in December, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria, bolstering attacks that it has carried out routinely over the past few years, deploying its troops in the occupied Golan Heights’ UN patrol buffer zone.
The latest incident only helps to raise sectarian tensions in Syria, and the minority has already gained the upper hand following the horrifying bloodshed last month.
Hundreds of people were killed in waves of vigilante attacks in the northern regions of Tartas and Latakia after loyalists from the Alawist community, who clashed with security forces in March.
The United Nations calls for restraint
Sanaya residents reported a fierce street fight on Wednesday.
“We have extreme panic and fear due to indiscriminate artillery fire and we must leave most of us completely closed in our homes,” said Elias Hanna, who lives on the edge of Sanaya.
“We are worried that the coastal massacre will be repeated against Druze near Sanaya,” he said.
The UN envoy to Syria, Gaia Pedersen, is “deeply interested” in violence, particularly in the capital Damascus and in the outskirts of his home country, the UN said.
He called for immediate measures to ensure civilian protection and prevent inciting community tensions.
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply interested in Israel’s airstrikes on Syrian territory,” and was called “all involved will exercise maximum restraint.”
Torkiye’s Foreign Ministry has called for Israel to “stop air strikes” in Syria.
“In this sensitive period for Syria, the international community’s obligation is to contribute to the establishment of security and stability in Syria,” Oncu Keceli, a spokesman for the ministry, said in a statement. “In this context, Israel must put an end to airstrikes, which undermines the country’s efforts to achieve unity and integrity.”
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