The strikes in Syria were a rare attack on forces of the new government, which is led by Islamist former rebels who toppled the dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Syria and deployed forces across a demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries.

Israeli strikes follow days of bloodshed in Sweida and a warning issued by Israel to the Syrian government, accusing it of targeting the Druze and violating a ceasefire agreement with the minority community.