TEL AVIV, March 20. /TASS/. Israeli forces carried out overnight strikes on southern areas of Syria, the Israel Defense Forces’ press service said, noting that their goal was to protect the local Druze population.

"Overnight, in response to the events that occurred yesterday, Thursday, in which Druze civilians were attacked, the IDF struck a command center and weapons in military compounds belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria," the statement said.

The Israeli military warned that similar strikes would continue in the event of new incidents involving the Druze. "The IDF will not tolerate harm towards the Druze population in Syria and will continue to operate to defend them. The IDF continues to monitor developments in southern Syria and will operate in accordance with directives from the political echelon," the army said.

The Druze are a tight-knit ethnoreligious Arabic-speaking group living mainly in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. Syria’s Druze population numbers around 700,000, making them the third biggest ethnoreligious minority after the Kurds and Alawites.

In July 2025, clashes erupted in Syria’s al-Sweida province between Syrian militias and Druze forces. Israel intervened in the conflict, launching strikes on Syrian army convoys deployed to al-Sweida to stabilize the situation, and also struck several strategic sites in the Syrian capital. Israel said its actions were aimed at protecting the Syrian Druze population.