JERUSALEM/DAMASCUS, May 3 (NNN-XINHUA) – Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said in a joint statement yesterday that, Israel attacked overnight near the presidential palace in Syria’s capital, Damascus.
The strike followed deadly clashes that intensified earlier this week between local Druze fighters and pro-government forces south of Damascus.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian government,” the Israeli statement said. “We will not allow the move of forces south of Damascus and any danger to the Druze community.”
Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said, Israeli airstrikes targeted early yesterday, a site near the Syrian presidential residence in Damascus, causing loud explosions but no immediate casualties.
The observatory described the strikes as a “warning message,” as they took place near one of the most fortified and symbolic locations of the Syrian government.
The Syrian authorities have yet to comment on the Israeli air raids.
Amid the sectarian unrest, two wounded Druze Syrians were evacuated on Thursday to Ziv Medical Centre in Safed, in northern Israel, for medical treatment. On the same day, Katz warned of harsh responses, if clashes with the Druze community continue in Syria.
Before dawn yesterday, hundreds of Israeli Druze protesters demonstrated in front of Netanyahu’s private residence, in Israel’s northern coastal town of Caesarea, demanding that the Israeli army intervene and protect the Druze in Syria, according to reports by Israeli media outlets.
Earlier on Thursday night, thousands of Druze residents took to the streets in northern Israel, blocking major highways.
Druze people primarily live in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, with smaller groups in Jordan. Israel has been working to solidify ties with the Druze community, since expanding its territorial control near the border with Syria and in the Golan Heights, following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Dec, last year.– NNN-XINHUA
