Israel warns Syria rebels aid will stop if Druze are targeted

Regime has run into law and order problems as a fallout

The Israeli regime’s defence ministry yesterday warned Syrian rebels that they should keep Islamist militants at bay and avoid attacking the Druze minority if they wanted to receive humanitarian and medical aid from the regime.

Israel has a declared policy of giving medical assistance to wounded Syrians who reach Israeli lines, but tensions have flared recently due to rebel violence against Druze in Syria.

The violence has led to concern among their Druze brethren in the north of the country and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Last week, Druze attacked an Israeli military ambulance on the Golan transporting wounded Syrians to hospital, killing one of them.

The incident took place hours after Druze in the neighbouring Galilee region blocked and stoned a military ambulance they suspected was taking Syrian rebels to hospital.

“A wounded person reaches the fence — you have to help,” a defence spokesperson said following a briefing Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon gave to Israeli reporters.

Humanitarian aid

“He gets better, you return him, and you convey a message through him: if you want the humanitarian aid to continue, please make sure not to let jihadists approach the fence, and secondly, don’t mess with the Druze.”

Israel is also concerned about the presence of radical Islamist rebels on its frontier with war-torn Syria.