Israel carried out a series of powerful strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, escalating a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces.

Israel carried out strikes against Syrian government forces in southern Syria, saying it was acting to protect the Druze minority.

"Silence and standing idly by are no longer an option,” Druze leader Sheikh Mowafak Tarif wrote. Israel's Druze spiritual leadership called on its community to prepare to assist their Syrian counterparts “by all means necessary,

Amid deadly Druze-Sunni clashes in Syria’s Sweida province, Israel positions itself as protector of the Druze community, raising questions over whether its true aim is securing a strategic foothold in

At least 200 people have reportedly been killed since fighting between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in Suweida on Sunday.

Israeli officials react to the ongoing violence in Syria's Sweida between regime forces and the local Druze community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border amid ongoing clashes in Sweida in southern Syria on Wednesday afternoon.