JERUSALEM/DAMASCUS ¨C Israel said it carried out a strike in Syria against ¡°an extremist group¡± that attacked members of the Druze community, following through on a promise to defend the minority group as deadly sectarian violence spread near Damascus on Wednesday.
A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement rejected ¡°all forms of foreign intervention¡± in Syria¡¯s internal affairs, without mentioning Israel, and declared Syria¡¯s commitment to protecting all Syrian groups ¡°including the noble Druze sect.¡±
It marks the first time Israel had announced a military strike in support of Syrian Druze since Bashar Assad was toppled, reflecting its deep mistrust of the Sunni Islamists who replaced him and posing a further challenge to interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa¡¯s efforts to establish control over the fractured nation.
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