IDF hits ‘extremist group’ threatening Syrian Druze in warning to new regime

The Israel Defense Forces has launched an attack on a Syrian extremist group preparing to target Druze in the country’s Damascus province, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced Wednesday afternoon. “The IDF carried out a warning operation and struck an organization of an extremist group that was preparing to continue attacks against the Druze population” of Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in the statement. The Jewish state had conveyed a “stern message to the Syrian regime—Israel expects it to act to prevent harm to the Druze,” the statement continued.

Jerusalem “will not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria, out of a deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel, who are bound by family and historical ties to their Druze brothers in Syria,” it added. “On this Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel’s Wars—a day when we honor the significant contribution of the Druze community to Israel’s security and remember the Druze fallen who risked their lives defending the State of Israel—we see great importance in fulfilling our commitment to the Druze community in Israel and in protecting their brethren in Syria,” the statement continued.

Earlier on Wednesday, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, urged the Jewish state and its people to prevent the killing of his brethren in Syria at the hands of the regime. “This moment, the eyes and hearts of the Druze community are turned toward the harm being done to Druze villages around Damascus,” he wrote, calling on “the State of Israel, the international community and the Jewish people to act now, immediately, to prevent a mass slaughter.” “The State of Israel must not stand by as mere spectators in light of what is happening right now in Syria,” added the Druze sheikh in his missive.  (Read More)