Israeli leaders said they launched attacks on Syria this week to protect members of the Druze religious group in the country’s south, amid clashes in the area.

The Israeli military attacked southern Syria on Thursday following airstrikes on Damascus the previous day. Israel has launched the military campaign after members of the minority Druze community and Bedouin tribes clashed in southern Syria, prompting the interim government to send troops.

That afternoon, Netanyahu and Katz ordered the Israeli military to once again attack government forces and weaponry in Suweida. They said they were working to prevent them from harming the Druze and to "ensure the demilitarisation" of areas near Israel's border.

Syria’s interior ministry spokesperson stated on Friday that government forces were not prepared to redeploy to Sweida Province, according to the official news agency

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.

The State Department condemned recent Israeli strikes in Syria, and Secretary Marco Rubio announced a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Syria to end immediate violence.

"If Israel feels that a certain leader...is an evident threat to its national security, it will operate," a former Israeli envoy told Newsweek.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.