Syria reports Israeli strikes after warning over Druze as sectarian clashes spread

Syria said Israel launched new strikes near Damascus on Wednesday, after sectarian clashes left nearly 40 dead in two days and Israel warned against attacks targeting the Druze minority.

The sectarian violence and Israel’s intervention present huge challenges to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and follow massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland.

United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen condemned the violence as…