Israel says it has carried out air strikes on Syrian government infrastructure in the south of the country, in response to what it described as attacks on Druze civilians in Suweida province.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it hit a command centre and weapons stored at army compounds overnight.
The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will not tolerate harm towards the Druze population in Syria and will continue to operate to defend them, it said.
The Syrian foreign ministry denounced the attack as an outrageous assault on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity and called Israel's justification flimsy pretexts and fabricated excuses.
It said the strikes were an escalation that continued Israel's policy of interference in internal affairs with the aim of undermining security and stability.
Israel, which has a sizable Druze minority, has previously framed such strikes as efforts to protect the community across the border. The Druze are a community in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned of further action, saying Israel would not allow the Syrian government to exploit the wider regional war to target Druze communities and would strike with even greater force if necessary.
Until now, Syria has largely remained on the margins of the current regional conflict across the Middle East, which started at the end of last month, when Israel and the United States launched coordinated missile strikes against Iran.
This latest military action in Syria comes amid escalating violence in Suweida, a predominantly Druze province, where clashes between government forces and local armed groups have intensified after a group of Druze militiamen attempted to enter government-held territories.
A UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that fighting erupted after mortar fire landed in areas controlled by Druze groups and that shelling later struck residential neighborhoods in Suweida city, causing panic among residents.
Syrian authorities described a different version of events. The interior ministry said security forces dismantled an organized criminal network involving car theft and drug trafficking, arresting nine suspects.
The unrest follows previous violence in Suweida, where clashes last July left hundreds dead. Government forces have been accused of siding with tribal groups, claiming they were intervening to restore order.
Israel also conducted air strikes at that time, asserting it was defending Druze communities and enforcing the demilitarization of southern Syria.
As analysts observe, the escalation is more closely tied to internal dynamics within Syria rather than a direct response to regional conflicts. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has made it clear that Damascus aims to avoid further entanglement in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts.
We are calculating our steps with extreme precision and working to keep Syria away from any conflict, he stated following prayer sessions.
