Israel claims attack on Syria was ‘warning strike’ on 'extremists' preparing to attack Druze

The Israeli occupation military today carried out what was described as a warning strike against “extremists” preparing to attack members of the Druze minority in the Syrian town of Sahnaya, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz.

According to Reuters,The Israeli announcement came after an eruption of deadly sectarian violence in predominantly Druze areas near Damascus, pitting Druze and Sunni Muslim against each other.

Israel views the Sunni Islamists who seized power in Damascus in December as a rising threat at its border, and has vowed to defend Syrian Druze, a minority whose faith is an offshoot of Islam and with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Describing the strike as a “warning operation”, the Israeli statement also said a message “was passed on to the Syrian regime – Israel expects it to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze”.

A spokesman for Syria’s Ministry of the Interior, speaking from Sahnaya, the Syrian town Israel said it had targeted, said he had no indication that an attack had taken place.

READ: 600 Syrian Druze clerics to visit Israel on Friday for religious purposes