Israel has stepped up its attacks on Syria after a week of sectarian violence against the Druze community.
Israeli forces launched airstrikes near the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus after accusing Syrian authorities of failing to protect the country’s minorities from sectarian violence.
Earlier on Friday, the attack is the second Israeli variety this week, and is expected to send a strong message to Syrian transitional government led by President Ahmed Arshara.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow it. [Syrian] Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz shortly after the attack.
More than 100 people were killed this week during the battle between Syrian pro-government forces and Druze fighters.
The violence has been condemned as a “genocide campaign” by Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikhmat Al Hijri, who called for “instant intervention by international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continued continuity of these crimes.”
On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saa urged the international community to “play a role in protecting Syria, particularly the Druze, from the regime and its terrifying gangs.”
Israel previously called Syrian transitional government “the Idlib terrorist group that took Damascus by force,” and this week strengthened its support for the Druze minority.
The Druze minority is a 10th century derivative of Shia Islamic branches, living primarily in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, and is an ally of Israel, with many Druzes serving the Israeli army.
Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani on Thursday called for “national unity” as “a solid foundation for any process of stability or revival.”
“A call for external intervention under pretexts and slogans only leads to further deterioration and division,” he writes to X.
Denominational violence raises one of the most serious challenges ever for the Alshara government, which led a coalition of rebel groups to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.
Syria has since faced sectarian violence.
This week’s battle follows a massacre of more than 1,700 civilians from the Alawite community by security forces and alliance groups, according to the UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory.
Traditionally based near the Mediterranean coast in western Syria, Alawis is the same ethnic group as the fallen al-Assad.
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