The Israeli military warned Wednesday that it will continue to strike forces in southern Syria aligned with the Syrian regime until Damascus withdraws from Druze enclaves and halts the ongoing attacks on Druze militias.
An IDF spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon that Israeli forces struck the entrance of the Syrian military’s headquarters outside of Damascus.
“A short time ago, the IDF struck the entrance gate of the Syrian regime’s military headquarters compound in the Damascus area of Syria,” the Israeli military said.
“The IDF continues to monitor developments and the actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria, and in accordance with directives from the political echelon, is carrying out strikes in the area and remains prepared for various scenarios.”
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called on Syria’s military to withdraw from the As-Suwayda province of southern Syria, warning that the IDF would continue to strike regime forces in the area to protect local Druze.
“The signaling in Damascus has ended – now painful blows will follow,” Katz said.
The IDF will continue to operate with force in As-Suwayda to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze, until their full withdrawal.”
“To our Druze brothers in Israel: you can count on the Israel Defense Forces to protect your brethren in Syria. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I, as Defense Minister, have made a commitment — and we will uphold it.”
Israeli forces struck Syrian army positions in As-Suwayda Tuesday and Wednesday, bombing tanks, rocket launchers, and troop deployments.
Hundreds of Syrians, nearly half of them Druze, have died since the latest wave of fighting began in the southern Syrian province of As-Suwayda broke out on Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-Assad organization based in London, has claimed that 248 people have been killed in the latest wave of fighting, including 92 Druze, 138 regime soldiers, and 18 Bedouin militiamen.
Located east of the Golan Heights, As-Suwayda is a sparsely populated region inhabited primarily by Druze, who make up some nine-tenths of the population, with a significant Christian minority.
Since the collapse of the Assad regime last December, however, sporadic clashes have broken out between local Druze and Sunni Bedouin militias.
After Bedouin militiamen seized control of a road in the eastern portion of the city of Suwayda, setting up a checkpoint, the intensified clashes led to the Syrian army entering the fray.
Footage spread via social media showing Syrian soldiers and Bedouin militiamen shaving the moustaches of captured and slain Druze men, including Druze clerics, sparked fury among Druze living in Israel.
Hundreds of Israeli Druze men converged on the Syrian frontier, with many attempting to breach the border and enter Syrian territory to support Druze militias in As-Suwayda.
The IDF claimed that Syrian Druze men were also spotted rioting on the border, apparently in an attempt to aid Israeli Druze to cross into Syria.
No comments:
Post a Comment