AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Israel bombed the Syrian capital, Damascus, today. In a video posted online by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, a building explodes behind a TV presenter during a live shot. In his post, Katz wrote, the painful strikes have begun. Israel said it targeted the Syrian military headquarters and the area near the Syrian Presidential Palace. All, it says, to protect the Druze religious minority in Syria. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi joins us now from Tel Aviv. Hi, Hadeel.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Hello.
CHANG: So can you explain how things got to this point?
AL-SHALCHI: So this is coming after two days of clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze militias in the southern Syrian province of Sweida. The Syrian government said it sent its security forces to control the situation, but a Syrian rights group says that they ended up joining the Bedouins in attacking the Druze. The Druze are a religious minority, and this violence is yet another example of how Syria is struggling to unify its various sects. So Israel intervened and struck a number of Syrian tanks approaching Sweida on Monday. And then today, it hit Damascus. Syria's health ministry said three people were killed in today's strike in Damascus. Syrian state media says that a ceasefire agreement has been reached. But it's, you know, really unclear if that means it'll be the end of the violence there.
CHANG: Can you explain, though? Israel says it's bombing Syria to protect the Druze community. Why does Israel feel it needs to do that?
AL-SHALCHI: So the Druze are an offshoot of Islam. And their community was divided between Syria and Israel when Israel captured the Golan Heights in the Mideast war of 1967. And Israel sees the Druze as a loyal community. Some Druze in Israel serve in the military here. And some Druze leaders have asked the Israeli government to help their counterparts in Syria.
So Israel says it's responding to those requests. But also, according to an Israeli military official speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, Israel is trying to enforce a demilitarized zone in southern Syria near Israeli-controlled territory. And this has all started immediately after the Assad regime fell last December. Israel began bombing military installations in Syria. And it moved further and further into Syrian territory, beyond a buffer zone that was created between the two countries in 1974.
CHANG: Well, we've been hearing a lot about these possible security agreements between Israel and Syria. So where do these latest bombings leave those talks?
AL-SHALCHI: Yeah, you're right. So it is a very delicate time for the two countries. You know, the Syrian government, starting with President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has made it clear from the start that they don't want any trouble with Israel. They've even signaled that Syria would be open to peace with Israel in the future. And just as early as last week, Israeli officials said that there would be talks about security agreements between the two countries when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House.
But all of this also puts the U.S. in a tough position because it has been spearheading the diplomatic efforts to bring Israel and Syria together. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was, quote, "very worried about the violence in southern Syria" and that it is a, quote, "direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful Syria." He said that the U.S. is still in talks with both Israel and Syria about this.
CHANG: And what exactly are Syria's options right now?
AL-SHALCHI: I mean, very little. Like I said, Israel bombed many of Syria's military installations in the days after the Syrian rebels took power, so Syria has no real army to attack back. And Syria's struggle to unify its sects is complicated by the fact that many of these hard-line Sunni factions that overthrew the Assad regime see the Druze as heretics. And many of those hard-liners now make up Syrian security forces.
Now, President al-Sharaa was one of them. He led an organization linked to al-Qaida. He had a $10 million bounty on his head by the U.S., but that was quickly lifted when he came into power. And in May, he met President Trump face to face, and the U.S. lifted these crippling sanctions off of Syria. But Israel remains deeply skeptical of him still.
CHANG: That is NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Hadeel.
AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome.
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