Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz today, Wednesday, that the Israeli army carried out a warning strike against what he described as “extremists” who were preparing to attack members of the Druze minority in the Syrian town of Sahnaya.

The Israeli declaration came against the backdrop of violent clashes that started yesterday evening in Sahnaya in Damascus countryside, and tensions also witnessed in the Jaramana neighborhood, which is located about 8 kilometers from the center of the capital, Damascus. 

The Israeli statement described the blow as a "warning process", and added that there is a message "passed to the Syrian regime ... and Israel expects him to move to prevent harm to the Druze."

The statement added that Tel Aviv "will not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria, based on its deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel, who have family and historical relations with their Druze brothers in Syria."

Some Druze in Israel serve the Israeli occupation army, and others oppose.

The Syrian Ministry of Health announced, today, Wednesday, the killing of 11 civilians and security forces, as a result of targeting of “outlawed groups” in Ashrafieh Sahnaya in the Damascus countryside governorate.

Druze is distributed between Lebanon, Israel, the occupied Golan and Syria, as the province of As -Suwayda is the south of their main stronghold. Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 and declared annexation in 1981 in a move that the international community did not recognize.