A 37-year-old Druze man from one of the Syrian villages at the heart of ongoing sectarian clashes was evacuated to Israel on Friday night and admitted to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya after sustaining moderate injuries during an attempted escape from a combat zone.
The man, a Syrian businessman, was injured after jumping from a height of roughly 40 feet into an elevator shaft. “I felt my life was in danger. I had to jump,” he said.
Israeli Air Force strikes regime targets across Syria as part of its campaign to defend the neighboring country's Druze minority
(Video: IDF)
Speaking from his hospital bed, he described being treated in Israel as “coming full circle,” adding, “My grandfather grew up here, and I have family in the village of Rama. The excellent medical staff and my relatives from Rama are embracing me with love. I don’t have enough words to thank you.” He is now hospitalized in the orthopedic spine surgery unit and is expected to undergo back surgery in the coming hours.
His evacuation was part of a broader overnight Israeli operation in Syria's predominantly Druze Suweida province, where Israeli Air Force helicopters secured the ground extraction of wounded Druze civilians. Meanwhile, aerial deliveries of humanitarian aid were dropped to Druze populations on Jabal al-Druze, a mountainous region in southern Syria. Earlier in the week, Israel also airlifted wounded Druze from Syrian territory to hospitals in Israel.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria's Daraa province
On Saturday morning, the IDF confirmed that Israeli fighter jets struck multiple targets across Syria overnight, including a military compound, anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missile infrastructure. Syrian media reported strikes in Hama, Damascus, Daraa and the coastal port city of Latakia. By midday, additional Israeli airstrikes were reported in the Hama region, targeting the regime’s 47th Brigade.
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According to the IDF, 12 Israeli fighter jets took part in the operation, hitting dozens of weapons systems and infrastructure, including anti-aircraft guns and missile launchers. The Air Force commander and Northern Command chief were both present in the Air Force operations center during the strikes. "The IDF will continue to ensure its operational freedom in the air and eliminate any threats in the region," the military said in a statement.
Five Syrian Druze injured in the recent unrest were also evacuated to Ziv Medical Center in Safed overnight. The IDF said that its forces are deployed across southern Syria and remain prepared to prevent the infiltration of hostile elements into the region and the Druze villages there.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israel carried out approximately 20 strikes across Syria, calling it the most intense wave of attacks so far this year. The targets reportedly included military facilities in Daraa, Damascus, Hama and Latakia.
A day earlier, Israel had struck near the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus, a move interpreted as a warning to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa amid growing tensions between the regime and the Druze minority. Syrian officials condemned the attack as a "dangerous escalation."