Israel Launches Airstrikes Near Syrian Presidential Palace

Israeli fighter jets struck near the Syrian presidential palace on Friday in what Israeli leaders said was a warning to the government to protect the Druse minority after a new wave of sectarian violence.

More than 100 people were killed this week in clashes involving a number of parties, including Sunni Muslim extremists not fully under the government’s control, forces from the new government and fighters from the country’s Druse minority.

The Israeli strike was the latest in a series of attacks on Syria over the past months aimed at preventing weapons and territory near Israel’s borders from falling into the hands of hostile forces. But it was also a reminder that the new Syrian government has little recourse beyond condemning such attacks as it struggles to gain control over a fractured country and unify it following almost 14 years of civil war.

Both Israel and Syria have large Druse communities. And Israel has offered before to protect the Syrian Druse should they come under attack during the tumultuous transition of power in the country after Islamist rebels overthrew the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in December.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes and incursions on Syrian territory, destroying weapons and military outposts. It made clear again on Friday that it was determined to prevent southern Syria, parts of which are controlled by the Druse, from falling under the sway of more extreme groups that could threaten Israel.

Israel said it attacked near the presidential palace in the capital, Damascus. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, called it “a clear warning” to the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Shara. He said when Mr. al-Shara “wakes up and sees the results of Israeli Air Force jets’ strike, he will understand well that Israel is determined to prevent any harm to the Druse in Syria.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has in the past demanded a total demilitarization of southern Syria and said Israel won’t allow the forces of the new Syrian military to enter territory south of Damascus.

Analysts said Israel’s determination to prevent hostile groups inside Syria from establishing a military presence near its borders stemmed partly from its experience with Hezbollah in Lebanon. For decades, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, established strongholds in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel that enabled it to threaten Israeli communities across the frontier — tensions that led to multiple conflicts.

The strike on Friday was the second time this week that Israel intervened militarily inside Syria on behalf of the Druse amid a new bout of sectarian violence in the country. During the unrest, Sunni extremists attacked areas with large Druse populations on the outskirts of Damascus.

Before he became president, Mr. al-Shara led the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was once affiliated with Al Qaeda, and headed a coalition of rebel forces that toppled Mr. al-Assad. The coalition included his group and other Islamist rebel factions with more extreme ideologies.

Many of those groups have not been brought under the control of new national military, and Syria’s authorities have shown little capacity to rein them in.

The Syrian president’s office condemned the Israeli attack near the presidential palace as a “dangerous escalation” aimed at undermining the country’s stability. It was one of the strongest statements yet by Syria’s new leaders against Israel.

But Mr. al-Shara cannot afford a further escalation with Israel. His government’s control still does not extend to large parts of the country. He is struggling to build a new military, calm waves of sectarian violence and unify a country ripped apart by years of civil conflict.

The Druse are one of Syria’s many minorities, and their militias have so far resisted integration into the national military.

There are more than one million Druse across the Middle East, mostly in Syria and Lebanon, and some in Jordan and Israel. The Druse practice a secretive offshoot of Islam that contains elements of Christianity, Hinduism, Gnosticism and other philosophies.

The monotheistic sect recognizes the prophets of the Abrahamic faiths, including Jesus, John the Baptist, Muhammad and Moses, and reveres Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates.

Wherever they may be, the Druse generally tend to participate in national civic and political life and often serve in the local military while maintaining a distinct culture and religious practice.

Some Syrian Druse have ties to the Druse community in Israel, and Israel has not only offered to protect the Druse in Syria, but also tried to cultivate relations with the community. But many Syrian Druse have rejected what they consider potentially destructive foreign meddling.

The Druse community in Israel, however, is pressing for Israel to intervene. Friday’s strike in Damascus came after Druse protesters in Israel blocked highways on Thursday amid mounting demands from members of the community there that Israel act forcefully in Syria.

The Israeli military also said on Thursday that its forces were deployed in the southern Syrian region and “prepared to prevent hostile forces from entering the region and Druse villages.”

Mr. Katz, the defense minister, said on Thursday that Israel would “respond with great severity” if attacks on the Druse did not stop, saying the Syrian leadership bore responsibility for preventing them.

“We are committed to defending the Druse,” he added.

On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes on Syria and threatened to strike government forces there if clashes persisted between Sunni extremist militants loosely affiliated with the government and Druse militia members. The Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a group of “operatives” whom Israel accused of having “attacked Druse civilians” in the spreading violence around the outskirts of Damascus.

The most recent outbreak of sectarian unrest in Syria began on Tuesday after an audio clip circulated on social media purporting to be of a Druse cleric insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The cleric denied the accusation, and Syria’s Interior Ministry said he was not involved.

Armed Sunni extremists then began attacking areas with large Druse populations, including the city of Jaramana near Damascus. Druse militias responded in force, and the government sent security personnel to quell the unrest.

On Wednesday, the clashes spread to another town on the southern outskirts of Damascus, and into the Druse-controlled Sweida region of southern Syria, with fighting continuing until Thursday morning.

Five prominent Druse leaders released a statement Thursday night indicating a willingness to join forces with the government. They said government forces were being deployed to secure the road from Sweida to the capital.

The government agreed to send reinforcements to protect Jaramana, Druse leaders said.

The State Department on Thursday called on Syria’s government to stop the sectarian violence and hold the perpetrators accountable.

“The recent violence and inflammatory rhetoric targeting members of the Druse community in Syria is reprehensible and unacceptable,” said a spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce. “Sectarianism will only sink Syria and the region into chaos and more violence.”

Euan Ward and Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.