Who are the Druze and why is Israel bombing Syria to protect them?

Syria’s military entered a stronghold for the Druze community in the country’s south on Tuesday, the government said, reigniting fears of attacks against minorities and triggering renewed Israeli strikes on the forces dispatched by Damascus.

Syria’s military entered a stronghold for the Druze community in the country’s south on Tuesday, the government said, reigniting fears of attacks against minorities and triggering renewed Israeli strikes on the forces dispatched by Damascus. Clashes broke out over the weekend between Druze forces and Bedouin tribes in the southern city of Suwayda, leaving 30 people dead and injuring dozens more. The violence prompted an intervention by the Syrian government, which lost eighteen of its soldiers in the clashes. Islamist forces allied with the Syrian government joined the fight this week, heightening concern among the Druze and prompting a key community figure to call for international protection. Israel, which has vowed to protect the Druze in Syria, launched fresh strikes against Syrian government forces advancing towards Suwayda, and pledged to continue strikes to protect the group. The Syrian foreign ministry said several civilians and security force members were killed in the strikes, but did not provide specific figures. In a statement, the ministry condemned the Israeli attacks, calling them “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic,” and “a reprehensible example of ongoing aggression and foreign interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.”