Israel strikes military tanks in Syria, where government forces clash with Druze militias

Israel’s army said on Monday it struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clashed with Druze militias in the latest escalation in the Middle East country struggling for stability after a 13-year civil war.

Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting between local militias and clans in Syria’s Sweida province. Government security forces that were sent to restore order on Monday also clashed with local armed groups.

Syria's Interior Ministry has said more than 30 people have died and nearly 100 others have been injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported at least 99 dead, including two children, two women and 14 members of the security forces.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the Israeli military "attacked targets in Syria as a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime -- we will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria.”

In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces.

While many Druze in Syria have said they do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf, factions from the Druze minority have also been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus after former President Bashar Assad fled the country in December during a rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups. On several occasions, Druze groups have clashed with security forces from the new government or allied factions.

Members of Syria's security forces load a rocket launcher near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday. AFP

In May, Israeli forces struck a site near the presidential palace in Damascus, in what was seen as a warning to Syrian interim President Ahmad Al Sharaa. The strike came after dozens were killed in fighting between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters in the town of Sahnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana.

Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

A group led by Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, a Druze spiritual leader who has been opposed to the new government in Damascus, on Monday issued a statement calling for "international protection” and accused government forces and General Security agency of "supporting takfiri gangs” -- using a term for extremist Sunni militants.

The Druze developed their own militias during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war, during which they sometimes faced attacks by the Islamic State group and other militant groups.

Israel has taken an aggressive stance toward Syria’s new leaders since Assad's fall, saying it does not want Islamic militants near its borders. Israeli forces earlier seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the border with the Golan Heights and have launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in Syria.

The Trump administration has been pushing for the new Syrian government to move toward normalization with Israel. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel to attempt to defuse tensions, but have not responded to reports that the two sides have also held direct talks.

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack told The Associated Press last week that he believes normalizing ties will happen "like unwrapping an onion, slowly.”

Associated Press