Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said “we won’t let anyone interfere with IDF soldiers carrying out their missions.” Photo: Screenshot.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the mob killing of a wounded Syrian fighter in Israel’s Golan Heights on Monday and appealed to the Druze community for calm.

The attack occurred in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Monday, when an Israel Defense Forces ambulance was carrying two wounded Syrian fighters to a hospital for treatment. A mob of about 150 people threw rocks at the escort, which killed one of the injured men and lightly injured two Israeli soldiers.

“I view this with utmost gravity. We will not allow anyone to take the law into their hands,” Netanyahu said during a speech at a cybersecurity conference in Tel Aviv. “We will not allow anyone to hinder IDF soldiers in their mission. We will locate those who perpetrated this lynching and we will deal with them to the fullest extent of the law.”

The mob killing was Monday’s second attack on an IDF ambulance carrying wounded Syrian fighters. Earlier, an IDF ambulance in the northern Druze Israeli town of Hurfeish was attacked by a mob, with no injuries reported.

Israel’s Druze community has recently been upset regarding the Jewish state’s policy of treating wounded Syrian fighters, some of whom may be part of jihadist rebel groups who are threatening Druze villages in Syria. This is especially true in the Golan Heights, where many Druze have elected not to take Israeli citizenship and remain loyal to the Syrian government.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Druze officials believe Hezbollah terrorist Samir Kuntar, who is Lebanese Druze, has been responsible for inciting violence among the Druze community in the Golan Heights.

Druze leaders have also appealed for calm and have condemned any attack on an IDF ambulance as a terrorist act.

“Whoever attacks an IDF vehicle is a terrorist, and the attack was a terrorist act,” Israeli Druze leader Salman Amar said.