Druze, Syria and Israel
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Syrian troops withdrew from Sweida after the truce was announced but clashes sparked up again late Thursday between the tribal Bedouin fighters and the Druze, part of a religious
Israel’s demand for a demilitarized zone in southern Syria and its promise to protect the Druze minority are putting it in deepening conflict with the new regime in Damascus.
1don MSN
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.
Syria's interim president accused Israel on Thursday of "trying to drag us into war" after the Netanyahu government launched airstrikes in Damascus.
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DPA International on MSNNetanyahu says Syrian troops barred from region south of DamascusIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Syrian government troops will be blocked from the area south of the capital Damascus to protect the Druze minority following Israel's attacks in the country earlier this week.
"If Israel feels that a certain leader...is an evident threat to its national security, it will operate," a former Israeli envoy told Newsweek.
Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.
Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.