While strategic considerations were still in play, the heart of the decision lay in defending the extended family of Israel’s own Druze—a gesture shaped as much by kinship as by security. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria over the past decade,

U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack says that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and .

Israel has threatened to increase its involvement in Syria and vowed to protect the Druze religious minority, which began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam, the Associated Press reported. Most of the world’s Druze population lives in Syria, with the rest predominantly in Israel and Lebanon.

Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. is "very concerned" by expanding Israeli strikes targeting Syria's new government, and he wants "the fighting to stop."

Israel can’t intervene in every conflict around the world. But this felt different — it was a moral and familial obligation,’ says one Rabbi with a

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.