TEL AVIV, July 16. /TASS/. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the time of warnings to Damascus in connection with the Druze is over, with "painful blows" against Syrian forces now on deck.
The statement came as tensions escalated in the southern Syrian town of Sweida, home to the Druze people whom Israel vowed to defend.
"The warnings in Damascus have ended - now painful blows will come," he wrote on X. The IDF will continue to operate forcefully in Sweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until their complete withdrawal."
"Our Druze brothers in Israel, you can rely on the Israel Defense Forces to protect your brothers in Syria. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I, as defense minister, have made a commitment - and we will uphold it," he said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it struck the Syrian General Staff compound in Damascus. Before that, Katz warned that Israel would continue to strike Syria unless its government pulled troops from the Druze-populated area in and around the town of Sweida.
Since the change of government in Damascus in 2024, Israel has repeatedly voiced support for the Druze in the neighboring Arab country and expressed its intention to assist them in self-defense if necessary.
The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethnic and religious group whose members live in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. The 700,000 Druze in Syria make up the country’s third-largest religious and ethnic minority after the Kurds and Alawites.