Welcome to the World in 10.
In an increasingly uncertain world, this is the Times' daily podcast dedicated to global security.
Today with me, Alex Dibble and Stuart Willey.
and to get government troops out of the south of Syria.
But Syria's interim president says Israel is just trying to destabilise his country.
Whatever the motives, it's a big escalation in a complicated part of the world.
Our guest today is Richard Spencer,
The Times correspondent who has long reported on the Middle East.
He can hopefully help us unpack it all.
Richard, what is behind Israel's bombing?
As with everything in this part of the world there are many different versions given of why Israel is doing this,
why Israel is intervening in this complex sectarian squabble that's going on in southern Syria.
The reason they give is that they are protecting the Druze community of Syria.
Now the Druze are a minority sect in both Lebanon, Syria,
Israel and in particular the Golan Heights which is the bit of Syria that Israel took in 1967 and has
since annexed.
So it has an interest in the Druze community.
The Druze perform an interesting role in all three of those countries I've just mentioned.
tending to be often loyal to governments in all three places.
Israel has a history of Druze serving in its armed forces,