CNN
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Syria’s military entered a stronghold for the Druze minority in the country’s south on Tuesday to “pursue outlaw groups,” the government said, prompting Israel to launch strikes against the forces dispatched by Damascus.
Clashes broke out over the weekend between Druze forces and Bedouin tribes in the southern city of Suwayda, leaving 30 people dead and injuring dozens more. The violence prompted an intervention by the Syrian government, which lost eighteen of its soldiers in the clashes.
Israel, which has vowed to protect the Druze in Syria, launched strikes against Syrian forces advancing towards Suwayda.
The Druze are an Arab sect of roughly one million people who primarily live in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. In southern Syria, where the Druze form a majority in Suwayda province, the community was at times caught between the forces of the Assad regime and extremist groups during the country’s long conflict.
“Israel is committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria due to the deep brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel, and their familial and historical ties to the Druze in Syria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Suwayda sits in what Israel has unilaterally declared a demilitarized zone in southern Syria. The Israeli government accused Syria of violating that demilitarization policy by moving military equipment into the city. The Syrian government has rejected Israel’s declaration of a demilitarized zone and has, along with the international community, repeatedly called on Israel to cease military actions that violate its sovereignty.
‘Demilitarization policy’
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to immediately strike regime forces and weaponry that had been brought into the Suwayda area in the Druze Mountain region of Syria for the purpose of regime operations against the Druze – in violation of the demilitarization policy that prohibits the introduction of forces and weapons into southern Syria, which pose a threat to Israel.”
The IDF said on Tuesday that it struck Syrian military vehicles after identifying convoys, including armored personnel carriers and tanks, moving toward Suwayda.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Druze spiritual leader, Hikmat Al-Hijri, called for international protection from “all countries” to “confront the barbaric campaign” by government forces “using all means possible.”
“We are facing a complete war of extermination,” Al-Hijri said in a video statement.
A statement issued by other Druze leaders however welcomed the Syrian government intervention in Suwayda and called on the state to assert its authority. It also called for armed groups in the city to hand over weapons to government forces and for a dialogue to begin with Damascus.
Hours after troops entered the city on Tuesday, Syria’s Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qusra declared a “ceasefire” following an agreement with unidentified community leaders, and said military police were deploying “to regulate military conduct and hold violators accountable.”
After overthrowing longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad last year, new President Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged inclusion and vowed to protect all of Syria’s diverse communities, but forces loyal to the leader have violently confronted some religious minorities. In March, hundreds of people were killed during a crackdown on the Alawite sect – to which Assad belonged – in the western city of Latakia, heightening fears among minority groups.