Druze anger sparks deadly attack on Israeli ambulance

NABI SHUAIB SHRINE, Israel (AP) — An unprecedented attack by a mob of Israeli Druze villagers who snatched a wounded Syrian rebel from an Israeli ambulance in the Golan Heights and beat him to death reflects the spiraling anger among the Jewish state's Druze minority, which has been pushing for the government to do more to help the Syrian Druze caught up in the neighboring country's civil war.

The Druze, a religious sect that began as an offshoot of Shiite Islam, are among Israel's most loyal citizens and serve in its military, although those living in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights have a more fraught relationship with the authorities.

But the Druze are also increasingly worried about the plight of their brethren in Syria and have been demanding action from the Israeli government in the wake of a massacre earlier this month of 20 Druze villagers in Syria, killed by Syria's al-Qaida branch, the Nusra Front.

In the attack late Monday, dozens of Druze villagers swarmed an Israeli military ambulance carrying two wounded Syrian rebels, suspecting they were Islamic militants.

The villagers pulled one of the Syrians from the vehicle and beat him to death. Two Israeli soldiers in the ambulance were also lightly wounded, and the other Syrian was evacuated to an Israeli hospital in critical condition. Earlier Monday, Druze villagers confronted another ambulance they believed was transporting wounded Syrian militants but that incident was quickly defused.

The Israeli Druze have been angered by the Israeli government's policy of extending medical aid to wounded Syrian rebels, who are fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government — an archenemy of Israel. They suspect that some of those treated in Israel have been Islamic militants, such as those behind the massacre of the Druze in the Syrian province of Idlib.

The Israeli military has in the past denied that it is helping treat wounded Islamic militants fighting across the border and defense officials said the Syrians who were evacuated into Israel on Monday night were civilians. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss military actions with the media.

More at: http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2015/Mounting-Israeli-Druze-anger-over-Israel-s-Syria-policy-sparks-deadly-attack-on-ambulance/id-6c668e9881c641f88e6fa291fe11512a


No good guys in Syria, any country helping any of them is supporting terrorism. The people that need help are the civilians.

I guess if they would have walked in to the middle of a palestinian city, yelled "yhwh rocks" and blew themselves and innocent men, women and children to bits that would be ok with you...

Israeli Druze ambushed another IDF ambulance ferrying injured Syrian rebels, killing one, and injuring the other. Two other Israeli soldiers were also hurt in the attack.
The Druze believe the Syrian rebels being treated in Israel may be from the Al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, which is threatening Syrian Druze communities. The IDF denied that the Syrians were jihadists. It’s the second Druze attack on an ambulance in the last 24 hours. See YNet and Times of Israel coverage. Meanwhile, local Druze leaders say Lebanese terrorist Samir Quntar’s inciting Golan Druze to violence.