While strategic considerations were still in play, the heart of the decision lay in defending the extended family of Israel’s own Druze—a gesture shaped as much by kinship as by security. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria over the past decade,

Israel struck Syria’s military headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday and moved more troops to the border in a bid, officials said, to prevent attacks against the Syrian Druze community.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it looked like a "misunderstanding" after Israel struck Syria's defense ministry.