Israel continued its interventions in southern Syria on Wednesday as clashes raged in Suwayda after a cease-fire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed.
Israel threatened to escalate its involvement in support of the Druze religious minority.
Syria’s Defense Ministry blamed militias in Suwayda for violating a cease-fire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire and continue military operations in the Druze-majority province.
"Military forces continue to respond to the source of fire inside the city of Suwayda, while adhering to rules of engagement to protect residents, prevent harm, and ensure the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes," the statement said.
An anti-regime offensive in December ousted Syria's longtime despotic leader, Bashar Assad, bringing an end to a nearly 14-year civil war. Since then, the country's new rulers have struggled to consolidate control over the territory.
The security challenges increased after clashes between government forces and Assad remnants in March spiraled into attacks in which hundreds of civilians were killed.
The latest escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province, a center of the Druze community.
Government forces that intervened to restore order have also clashed with the Druze while reports have surfaced of members of the security forces carrying out extrajudicial killings, looting and burning civilian homes.
No official casualty figures have been released since Monday, when the Syrian Interior Ministry said 30 people had been killed. The U.K.-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 250 people had been killed as of Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces.
Israel, meanwhile, has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces since the clashes erupted, saying that it is acting to protect the Druze.
The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria.
Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military. In Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country's new leaders, with some advocating for integrating into the new system while others have remained suspicious of Damascus.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the Israeli army "will continue to attack regime forces until they withdraw from the area – and will also soon raise the bar of responses against the regime if the message is not understood."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday night that Israel has "a commitment to preserve the southwestern region of Syria as a demilitarized area on Israel’s border" and has "an obligation to safeguard the Druze locals."
Israel has taken an aggressive stance toward Syria’s new leaders since Assad's fall. Israeli forces have seized a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the border with the Golan Heights and launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in Syria.
