A U.S. envoy has reaffirmed Washington's support for Syria's new government, stating there is "no Plan B" for uniting the country.

Syria should not be allowed back into the international community unless it is able to uphold protections for the Druze and its other minority groups, Israel has said.

Today we, the Druze, are being slaughtered and are calling for the help of Israel.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared this message publicly and issued a clear reply. “We have taken action,” he said.

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“The Israeli Druze are now trying to use that and urge the Israeli government to protect fellow Druze in Syria,” he said, explaining, in part, the justification for Israel’s strikes on Syria, where the Druze community has traditionally been anti-Israel, even as some leaders grow closer to Israel.

Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.

Barrack suggested that Israel would prefer to see Syria fragmented and divided rather than a strong central state in control of the country.

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.