If I belonged to the only civilized segment ... ... Of a society and I also had to worry about other minority groups like the Druze and Christians there, I'd have gassed the Sunnis. It's widely known that the rebels are drawn from all over the world in various parts of the Umma and are funded by the US and Saudi and Turkey, it's a foreign invasion. The Alawites and Christians face extermination if they become subject to Sunni rule and that's an existential threat. if the Israelis were under similar pressure I'd expect them to tactically nuke their opponents.