Israel threatens military intervention in Syria's civil war
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure from Druze villagers to protect co-religionists at risk from jihadist rebels
8:12PM BST 17 Jun 2015
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Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has issued a veiled threat to intervene directly in Syria's civil war for the first time, after Syrian rebels surrounded a village occupied by the Druze minority close to the border.
Monitors from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the village of Khadr was now surrounded by rebels, who had taken a hilltop immediately to the north.
Druze leaders in Israel and the Golan Heights warned that they might storm the frontier to save their relatives, fearing a sectarian massacre.
Mr Netanyahu said he had given "instructions to do what is necessary" to help Syria's Druze. Jerusalem also warned Syrian rebel groups operating in southern Syria not to attack and to stay away from Khadr.
Local media reports said the government was considering establishing a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border for refugees - a move that would be an unprecedented step given decades in which the frontier has been a "frozen zone".
The crisis over the Druze intensified on Tuesday night, as fighting between Jabhat al-Nusra - al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate - Syrian rebels and the Syrian army intensified in southern Syria.
Smoke rises after an explosion in the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels on the outskirts of the Druze village of Khader in Syria, seen from the Israeli controlled Golan Heights (AP)
Smoke rises after an explosion in the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels on the outskirts of the Druze village of Khader in Syria, seen from the Israeli controlled Golan Heights (AP)
Jabhat al-Nusra have insisted they are not intent on killing Druze, a sect that hardline jihadists consider to be heretical or apostate from true Islam. They even apologised for killing 20 Druze in a village in northern Syria in a dispute over property.
However, Druze in the occupied Golan, seized from Syria during the 1967 Six Days' War, have watched the collapse of authority over the border as the Syrian army has suffered a series of defeat with alarm.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) temporarily declared an area in the northern Golan Heights a closed military zone.
The move was done "in order to prevent gatherings near the border, which would interfere with IDF activities, and was not related to the fighting in Syria", an IDF spokesman said in a statement to The Telegraph.
The closure, which lasted for several hours, came amid concerns that the Druze in Israel and the Golan Heights may congregate and even attempt to breach the border into Syria in order to save their brethren.
There are also Druze in Israel itself. A Druze former MP, Salah Tarif, told Israel's Walla News website: "We are 'at the ready’, so that if there is something that will require our intervention, we will not hesitate to do it."
A member of the Druze minority waves the Druze flag as they watch the fighting between forces loyal to Bashar Assad and rebels in the Druze village of Khader in Syria (AP)
A member of the Druze minority waves the Druze flag as they watch the fighting between forces loyal to Bashar Assad and rebels in the Druze village of Khader in Syria (AP)
Mr Tarif added that many Druze would cross the border into Syria “without hesitation”.
Similar sentiments were heard in demonstrations taking place in the northern town of Majdal Shams this week - the closest Israeli-controlled town to Khadr. “With our blood, with our soul, we will defend Suwayda, our Syria”, crowds of Druze chanted.
Hassan Safadi, a vet based in Majdal Shams, told The Telegraph that a major battle between the residents of Khadr and Jabhat al-Nusra forces took place the previous evening, but that the Druze had succeeded in defending themselves on Tuesday evening, suffering only one casualty.
“They had a huge attack yesterday and they (Jabhat al-Nusra) occupied the Tal Ahmar hill for an hour”, he said. In the end, the Druze defended their positions.
“They have been hiding ammunition, heavy artillery and weapons for some time”, said Mr Safadi, citing communication with friends and relatives across the border.
Nonetheless, Mr Safadi said that the Druze in Khadr were already “preparing themselves for another round” of fighting with Jabhat al-Nusra.
Another Majdal Shams resident, Salman Fakhredin, described hearing heavy shelling on Wednesday.
"Most of them are now fighting to defend themselves," he said, describing the situation in the village. “People have organised themselves into guarding committees - it’s their basic right to protect themselves.”
Mr Safadi also added that dozens of Druze doctors based in the Golan Heights were willing to cross the border to help their friends and relatives.
On Wednesday morning, an air raid siren sounded in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, after Syrian regime forces fired artillery at two rebels outposts about 1.5 kilometres north-east of Khadr, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Gadi Eizenkot said on Tuesday that he was concerned about the possibility of Syrian refugees fleeing to Israel, and states that the IDF would do everything possible in order to prevent a massacre.
