Israel this Friday, May 2, has been implemented against Syria on Friday, May 2, bombarding the surroundings of the presidential palace in Damascus after the Druze minority chief, protected by Israeli power, accused the power of the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Charaa, of “genocide”.
The most influential Druze religious leader in Syria, Cheikh Hikmat al-Hajrin, had just denounced a “Unjustified genocidal campaign” targeting “Civilians” From his community, after denominational clashes at the start of the week that left more than 100 dead, according to an NGO.
These fights were launched on Monday evening by an attack of armed groups affiliated to power against Jaramana, after the broadcast on the social networks of an audio message attributed to a Druze and judged blasphemous with regard to the Prophet Muhammad. AFP could not verify the authenticity of the message. The Syrian authorities have accused elements that escape its control of having caused violence.
The Druze religious chief demanded “An immediate intervention of international forces”. “We no longer trust an entity that claims to be a government. […] A government does not kill its people by using its own extremist militias, then, after the massacres, claiming that these are uncontrolled elements ”, denounced the latter.
Just after threatening to answer “Force” If Damascus did not protect the religious minority, Israel – close to Syria with which he is in a state of war and who took the cause for the Druze – launched his attack this Friday at dawn. “Combat planes have struck the surroundings of the palace” Presidential in Damascus, confirmed the Israeli army on Telegram.
“It is a clear message sent to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces [syriennes] are dispatched to the south of Damascus or threaten the Druze community in any way ”, hammered in a statement Benyamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense, Israel Katz.
UN Secretary General “Condemns the violations by Israel of the sovereignty of Syria, including the air strikes near the presidential palace in Damascus. It is essential that these attacks cease and that Israel respects sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and independence of Syria ”, Spokesperson António Guterres said on Friday evening. American diplomacy has castigated “The latest violence and incendiary rhetoric” antidruzes “Reprehensible and unacceptable”.
Fighting this week in Jaramana and Sahnaya, where Christians and Druze live, as well as in Soueïda, a majority of Druze, woke up the specter of massacres which had left more than 1,700 dead in early March, in the vast majority of members of the Alaouite minority in the west of the country.
These violence had been triggered by attacks by pro-Assad activists against the security forces of the new power. Already Wednesday, the Israeli army had struck near Damascus, in good shape “Warning” against a “An extremist group that was preparing to attack the Druze population of the city of Sahnaya”, According to Benyamin Netanyahu.
These clashes nearby and south of Damascus between Druzes fighters and armed groups linked to President Ahmed Al-Charaa illustrate the persistent instability in Syria, almost five months after the overthrow of his predecessor, Bashar al-Assad, from the Alawite minority.
“We are an inalienable part of Syria”, underlined a spokesperson for the rally of religious authorities, traditional leaders and armed groups in Soueïda, adding that the community rejected “Any division” of the country. The Druzes, a minority of Shiite Islam, are divided between Lebanon, Syria and Israel.
According to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), these clashes left 102 dead, including 30 members of the affiliated security forces and combatants, 21 Druzes and 11 civilians in Jaramana and Sahnaya. In the province of Soueïda, 40 Druzes fighters perished, including 35 in an ambush, according to the NGO.
In Jaramana, agreements between representatives of the Druzes and power had restored calm on Tuesday evening, the same Wednesday evening in Sahnaya 15 km southwest of Damascus where security forces were deployed. And the Syrian power had reaffirmed his “Committed to protecting all the components of the Syrian people, including the Druze community”.
From the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, overthrown by a coalition of Islamist rebel factions led by Charaa after more than thirteen years of civil war, Israel has multiplied the opening gestures towards the Druzes, seeking, according to independent analyst Michael Horowitz, to manage allies in the South Syrian at a time when the future of this country remains uncertain.
Update at 7:38 p.m. with the UN reaction.
