"If Israel feels that a certain leader...is an evident threat to its national security, it will operate," a former Israeli envoy told Newsweek.

While some Druze leaders have urged accommodation with Damascus, others have come out strongly against Sharaa, notably Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, who urged resistance to government forces and appealed to world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during this week's violence.

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