Israel says it carried out a warning strike in defense of Syria's Druze community
Israel said it carried out a warning strike against an extremist group that was preparing to attack Druze community in Syria.
Israel said it carried out a warning strike against an extremist group that was preparing to attack a Druze community in Syria, following through on its pledge to protect the minority group as violence spread Wednesday in Druze areas near Damascus.
It was the latest Israeli strike in Syria, where Israel views the Sunni Islamists who seized power in December as a rising threat at its border and has sent troops into the southwest, vowing to protect the Druze minority.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strike had hit the “extremist group” as it prepared to continue an attack on Druze in the Syrian town of Sahnaya, just south of Damascus.
“At the same time, a message was passed on to the Syrian regime — Israel expects it to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze,” they said.
A spokesman for Syria’s interior ministry, speaking to Reuters from Sahnaya, said he had no indication that an attack had taken place.
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