JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military carried out a warning strike against "extremists" preparing to attack members of the Druze minority in the Syrian town of Sahnaya, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz.

Syria's small Druze community largely kept out of the country's long civil war but since president Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December it has found itself confronting the new Islamist-led government amid military intervention by Israel.

An Israeli aircraft struck a target in the Druze-majority town of Sahnaya in southern Syria, reported Rudaw’s correspondent on the ground. Hours prior, Israel stated it had targeted an “extremist group” that was planning an attack on the local Druze population.