Israel launched its military campaign in Syria to protect the Druze — a minority group facing extremist violence. But why is this community so important to Israel? To understand that, let’s first look at what’s been happening on the ground in Syria.

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.