Israel launched airstrikes on Syria on Wednesday and threatened to strike government forces there if clashes persisted between pro-government fighters and militiamen from the Druse minority.
Wading into the latest eruption of sectarian violence in the country, the Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a group of “operatives” accused of having “attacked Druse civilians” in spreading violence around the outskirts of the capital, Damascus. The Syrian governor of the area, Amr al-Sheikh, said in a news conference on Wednesday night that the airstrike had killed one member of the Syrian government’s general security forces and one civilian.
The Israeli military did not identify the “operatives,” but forces aligned with the Islamist government have been locked in fierce clashes in the area with Druse militiamen for two days. Earlier, the Israeli government said its forces had targeted members of an unidentified “extremist group” south of Damascus.
Israel is home to a substantial Druse community, many of whom see themselves as loyal citizens and serve in the military.
At least 39 people — including 22 on Wednesday — have been killed in two days of clashes between Syrians on the outskirts of Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war-monitoring group based in Britain.
The Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday came after violent clashes broke out around the town of Ashrafieh Sahnaya, a largely Druse area south of Damascus.
