Syria
Damascus-affiliated forces deployed to Sahnaya amid violent clashes in the Druze-majority town. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Israeli aircraft struck a target in the Druze-majority town of Sahnaya in southern Syria, reported Rudaw’s correspondent on the ground. Hours prior, Israel stated it had targeted an “extremist group” that was planning an attack on the local Druze population.
Rudaw’s Dilkhwaz Mohammed, reporting from Sahnaya, confirmed that “an Israeli aircraft struck a target inside Sahnaya,” adding that “the aircraft continued hovering and surveilling” the area after the strike.
The escalation comes as at least 13 people have reportedly been killed and many others injured in armed clashes that erupted in Sahnaya between Druze fighters and Damascus-affiliated forces in Sahnaya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The UK-based war monitor elaborated that 11 of the fatalities were Damascus security forces, while the remaining two were local Druze fighters.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel had hit an “extremist group” preparing to launch an attack on the Druze in Sahnaya, adding that “Israel expects” the new Syrian leadership “to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze [community]."
Arabic spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Avichay Adraee, on Wednesday noted that the IDF’s chief of staff had “instructed preparations to [potentially] strike targets belonging to the Syrian regime if the violence against the Druze does not cease.”
In a statement on X, Adraee elaborated that “the IDF continues to monitor developments in Syria, while our forces remain on defensive alert and prepared to respond to various scenarios.”
For his part, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Wednesday denounced the Israeli airstrikes on his country, warning that they pose a serious threat to national stability.
“These attacks are not only blatant violations of Security Council Resolutions,” but “they also destroy our civilian infrastructure and risk returning Syria to the militants we’ve fought 14 years to overcome,” Shaibani said.
Meanwhile, Rudaw’s correspondent in Sahnaya, Mohammed, reported a wave of displacement among Druze residents in Sahnaya due to the ongoing violence.
A Damascus-affiliated officer told Mohammed that “the Syrian Arab Army was conducting a sweep on the entry of Sahnaya to root out terrorist gangs stationed inside.”
The same officer claimed that the Damascus-affiliated forces were “battling remnants” of the regime of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and “outlaw gangs” in Sahnaya.
The unrest in Sahnaya comes just one day after violent confrontations broke out in the Druze-majority suburb of Jaramana, near Damascus, leaving at least 18 people dead and dozens injured.
The violence was reportedly triggered by an offensive audio clip about the Prophet Muhammad, initially attributed to a Druze cleric but later found to be fake.
This is not the first time Druze-majority areas have faced turmoil.
Jaramana has seen repeated tensions since the December fall of Assad’s regime to a coalition of opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). In early March, forces affiliated with the new Syrian leadership deployed in the suburb following clashes with Druze fighters.
Around that same time, Assad loyalists had launched attacks on security forces aligned with the new leadership in Syria’s Alawite-majority western regions. SOHR then reported that about 1,500 people - mostly Alawites - were killed in the clashes, with most deaths caused by Damascus-affiliated forces.
The violence then drew international condemnation, while Israel reaffirmed readiness to defend Syria’s Druze community if they are subjected to similar violence.
Israel is notably home to about 150,000 Druze who mainly reside in the Galilee, Carmel Mountains, and Golan Heights, and are integrated into state institutions, including the military.
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