Israel says deploying in southern Syria to ‘protect Druze’

The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had "deployed in southern Syria," claiming it was there to the entry of "hostile forces." This comes amid recent Israeli claims that they were working to  "protect the Druze" of Syria.

Israel also claims that it has received appeals for assistance from the Syrian minority community but Druze leaders have repeatedly denied this, instead affirming loyalty to Syria.

In a brief statement reported by AFP, the Israeli army said it "continues to monitor developments while maintaining readiness for defense and various scenarios," without specifying the number or scope of its deployed forces.

This announcement follows increasingly aggressive Israeli attacks inside Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8.

The most serious of these came with an airstrike early Friday that targeted the vicinity of the presidential palace in Damascus—a clear warning to the Syrian leadership, particularly President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Israeli forces later attacked targets near Damascus, Hama, and southern Syria, killing one person, as well as killing four people – all members of the Druze community – in an airstrike near Suweida in southern Syria.

The attacks come in the wake of recent deadly clashes between Sunni militias loosely affiliated with the government and local fighters in areas like Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya near Damascus and the countryside of Suwayda, which Israel appears to be exploiting to escalate its aggression under the pretext of "protecting the Druze."

The Israeli army also claimed in a statement on Friday that it had evacuated five Syrian Druze citizens for medical treatment in Israel, without providing further details.

Israel however, has openly declared its desire to see Syria split along sectarian and ethnic lines.