STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Israel has launched airstrikes on the Syrian capital Damascus. Israel says it targeted the Syrian military headquarters near the Syrian presidential palace, responding to fighting elsewhere in that country. NPR correspondent Daniel Estrin is in Tel Aviv trying to help us figure out what's going on here. Hi there, Daniel.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: As best you can determine, how did this start? Where'd it come from?
ESTRIN: Yeah. This really began at the beginning of the week. A Bedouin tribe in southwest Syria attacked the Druze community there, and then Druze militias retaliated. So then Syrian government forces went to the area, they said, to restore order, but they ended up fighting alongside the Bedouins and against the Druze. Hundreds of people have been reported killed. Just in the last few days, we've seen harsh images on social media like shaving off Druze men's mustaches. Remember, the Druze are a religious minority. Some hard-line Sunni militants consider them to be heretics, and some Islamist militants make up Syria's security forces today. So that's the background.
And then, Israel intervened in just the last few days, began attacking Syrian troops on Monday, and it's only escalated from there with attacks in Damascus and also bombing Syrian troops headed toward that fighting in Sweida, the main Druze area.
INSKEEP: But it seems you're telling me this involves a religious minority and other people inside Syria, not inside Israel. It's fighting among Syrians, although it was near the border with Israel. Given that, why is Israel intervening?
ESTRIN: Well, you have to understand that the Druze minority actually straddles the area between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
INSKEEP: Ah.
ESTRIN: An Israeli military official spoke to reporters today on condition of anonymity and said that there were two goals with Israel's involvement here - not only to prevent the Syrian military from building up in this area as part of this kind of large demilitarized zone that Israel wants to see near its border with Syria, but also to protect the Druze minority - which straddles both Syria and Israeli-controlled land. Israel sees the Druze as a loyal minority community, and Druze members in Israel have been pressing the Israeli government to act on behalf of their brethren in Syria.
Israel says that the Druze had been in control of this area of Sweida in majority control. And just in the last 24 hours, they've lost that majority control. Israeli military officials say that the Syrian military has now encircled Sweida, firing artillery into the area. So it's a very complex situation and really chaotic. Israel is sending some of its own troops from Gaza to that Syrian border region to protect it. Some Druze members actually broke across the Israeli-controlled border into Syria to...
INSKEEP: Ah.
ESTRIN: ...Fight alongside their Druze counterparts.
INSKEEP: So you're giving us an idea of why the Israelis would assert that they have a stake here or an interest. What are the bigger implications...
ESTRIN: Right.
INSKEEP: ...Of this fighting?
ESTRIN: Well, this has huge implications for the new Syrian government. It's been struggling to unite all these diverse sects of Syria into one country after their civil war of 14 years. So there are questions here about whether Syria's new leaders, who are former Islamist rebels, truly are committed to protecting the Druze and religious minorities. And it also influences what might happen between Israel and Syria.
The U.S. is trying to establish some kind of security pact between the two countries. And an Israeli military official says, in the meantime, they're prepared for more days of fighting ahead in that area.
INSKEEP: NPR's Daniel Estrin. Thanks for the insights. Really appreciate it.
ESTRIN: Much appreciated. Thank you, Steve.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
