Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Syrian leaders they have crossed his red lines. He said he will not let Syrian troops move south of Damascus and his military will do what it takes to protect the Druze people.

He released a statement on Thursday saying Israel has set a clear policy: "Demilitarization of the region to south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights and to the Druze Mountain area, that's rule number one. Rule number two is protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze at the Druze Mountain."

He noted that, "Both those rules were broken by the regime in Damascus."

His statement came a day after heavy Israeli airstrikes hit military headquarters and other targets in the Syrian capital.

Sectarian violence broke out in the southern city of Sweida over the weekend between local Bedouin tribes and members of the Druze religious minority.

The interim Syrian government sent troops to intervene, but they later were targeted by the Israeli airstrikes. The IDF said the attacks were aimed at protecting the Druze.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed on Thursday to protect the Druze community, and condemned Israel for trying to fracture Syria.

Suzuki Hiroyuki, a Middle East expert and project associate professor at the University of Tokyo, said Israel is using its pledge to protect the Druze as a pretext to launch attacks.

He said the interim government has not been able to seize control of the whole nation yet and he believes that "Israel is trying to prevent armed militias and Syrian troops from coming in by unilaterally setting up demilitarized buffer zones in southern Syria near the Golan Heights."

The situation remains volatile. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israeli forces have moved across the buffer zone, and advanced into a Druze town inside Syria. It calls the incursion a "rare field development" within the border.