The American government is said to have been opposed Israel’s latest intervention in Syria, where the Israeli Air Force bombed Syrian army troops and weapons in the Druze stronghold of Suweyda, and also struck the Syrian army’s headquarters in Damascus, and a site next to he presidential palace, as a way to warn Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa of what Israel could do to him if it had a mind to, and that much would depend on his reaction to the bombing. He got the message, pulled his troops out of Suweyda, and agreed to a ceasefire with the Druze in that city. He even said, after several days when his troops had murdered Druze soldiers and civilians in Suweyda, setting some on fire, that his government would “protect the Druze.” Many of the Druze, especially those in Israel who, unlike those in Syria, are not afraid to talk, deeply mistrust al-Sharaa, whom they continue to regard as a Sunni jihadist.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu observed, it was not “requests” or “pleas” that brought about the ceasefire and the retreat of Syrian forces from Suweyda, and the ceasefire, but the military strikes let loose by the IDF on Syrian forces in Suweyda and army headquarters in Damascus. More on Netanyahu, the American reaction, al-Sharaa’s agreeing to a ceasefire, and the cautious Druze reaction, can be found here: “Netanyahu confirms ceasefire, Syrian withdrawal from Sweida due to ‘forceful action,'” Jerusalem Post, July 17, 2025:
Israel has achieved a ceasefire in Syria through “forceful actions,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
“We have established a clear policy: the demilitarization of the area south of Damascus and the protection of our brothers, the Druze,” he said.
“I instructed the IDF to act with force, because the Damascus regime sent its army south of the capital and massacred the Druze. As a result of our intensified action, a ceasefire has been established, and Syrian forces have withdrawn back to Damascus.”
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government would soon withdraw its forces from areas with Druze populations, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday night.
Syria’s Druze had reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that would take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday, Reuters reported earlier.
A ceasefire announced on Tuesday night collapsed after a few hours. There was still fire from government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida after the announcement was made, a witness told Reuters.
Syria’s official Syrian Arab News Agency corroborated the reports of a ceasefire agreement and said security checkpoints had been deployed across Sweida.
Israel struck the entrance to the Syrian regime’s military headquarters complex in Damascus, the IDF reported Wednesday.
On Thursday, Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority after US intervention to help achieve a truce in fighting between government forces and Druze fighters….
Israel is not interested in fracturing Syria. It believes it has a duty to protect the Druze people, for Druze in Israel have been fighting alongside Jewish soldiers ever since the 1948 war. The Druze are the only non-Jewish group in Israel who are required to serve in the military, and they have done so with great distinction. Major-General Ghassan Allian, a Druze, is the head of Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). The Israelis were determined to stop the slaughter of those whom Netanyahu called the “brothers of our brothers” (the Israeli Druze), and they have now done so.
A round of fighting between the Bedouin and Druze earlier this week prompted the government to send troops to Sweida to quell the clashes, but the violence escalated until a ceasefire was declared.
The troops were sent in by Al-Sharaa to Suweyda not just to stop the fighting between the Druze and the Bedouin, but to assert Damascus’ control over the Druze, to force them to agree to his previous insistence that the Druze militia be incorporated into the national army. This is something the Druze will never do.
The Druze have kept their weapons, and it is the Syrian army, under pressure from Israel’s military, that had to withdraw from the Druze stronghold. But the fighting between the Druze and the Bedouin has continued, and al-Sharaa has again sent his army back into Suweyda, to “restore order,” but also to fight the Druze, so that they will at last agree to folding their militia into the Syrian army.
The violence has underlined the challenges that Sharaa faces in stabilizing Syria and exerting centralized rule, despite his warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
The Israelis do not share the faith in Al-Sharaa that the American government apparently has. It continues to regard al-Sharaa, a former supporter of Al-Qaeda,with great suspicion, and that suspicion only increased when he did nothing to prevent the murderous attacks by Sunnis, including some ‘Syrian army troops, on the Alawites in Latakia, nor has he arrested those who have been murdering Christians, including those behind the suicide bombing of the ancient church of Mar Elias, where 25 worshippers were killed and 63 wounded. Until Al-Sharaa starts rounding up those responsible for the attacks on Syria’s minorities, the Israelis will continue to regard him with a jaundiced eye.
One local journalist said he had counted more than 60 bodies in the streets of Sweida on Thursday morning. Ryan Marouf of Suwayda24 told Reuters he had found a family of 12 people killed in one house, including women and an elderly man….
In fact, more than 600 people have now been killed in Suweyda, many of them Druze civilians. Syrian army men have been grabbing Druze men, beating them, and forcibly shaving off their religiously-mandated mustaches. One 80-year-old Druze religious leader collapsed and died soon after having been humiliated by such treatment.
Israel, which bombed Syria frequently under the rule of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, has struck the country repeatedly this year, describing its new leaders as barely disguised jihadists and saying it will not allow them to deploy forces in areas of southern Syria near its border.
Israel has repeatedly made clear that the area between Damascus and the border with Israel must be demilitarized, either voluntarily or, if the Syrians are not forthcoming, the IDF will bomb the weapons that Syria refuses to withdraw from the area.
Wellington says
This article by Hugh Fitzgerald made me think of a “larger problem,” to wit, no Israel.
Yes, imagine the Middle East in our era minus Israel. I submit (not meant in an Islamic slave-like way) that the world would be even worse off than it is now. And God knows it’s bad enough as it is.
Long live Israel and the USA. As bad off as the world is now, and it’s effing terrible, take away Israel and America and contemplate for a while that scenario. QED.
gravenimage says
Spot on, Wellington.
Lady of the Lake says
Im still trying to wrap my head around Trump meeting with Jolani and them giving him his blessing. I know Trump is not perfect and that he is a decent man with an awful lot on his plate but this jolani thing is an unbelievably vile action.
Brenrod says
Trump has made many faulty judgements choosing people he later trashes. Syria should not be one unified country, the Kurds, Druze and alawites should have their own sovereignties. The euro drawn Mideast borders were designed to maintain chaos.
gravenimage says
I think a lot of Westerners desperately hoped that things would be better in Syra with Assad gone–but this is actally much worse.
tgusa says
As an American I am ashamed to say that we should stay out of everything because anything our taxpayer funded operations DC both here and overseas turns to crap.
The trouble with America today is it is not as said a large stupid population governed by a small group of smart people. It is a large group of smart people governed by a small group of stupid people.
And that small group are traitors too.
tgusa says
My comment applies to not only the USA but to all Western countries. It is not streamlined throughout Western countries. Some are deeper in to the madness than others are.
Kepha says
No, I believe that our problem comes from government by smart people over not-so-smart people; but the smart people are by no means as smart as they think they are.
Wellington says
Hi, Kepha. Hope you’re doing well. Respecting smart people, I recall again that line spoken by Eleanor of Aquitaine (played by Katherine Hepburn) in The Lion in Winter to one of her sons, to wit, “You’re clever but I wonder if you’re right.”
tgusa says
Our problem comes from government by (so-called) smart people (who are not government) over not-so-smart people (who are government).
And you are right in saying that the smart people are by no means as smart as they think they are. If they were smart they wouldn’t have used their money and influence to install stupid people in government.
Stive says
Whether blindly or bought out, trump by his retarded peace efforts will produce mass destruction. Israel can change the mideast to a better place if america does not get in the way but will still provide munitions.
Many Americans want america to stay out of mideast conflicts and that can happen if trump will take his doggie leash off if Israel. The key is a free Iran which trump is preventing forcing Israel to not pound the IRGC so the unarmed Iranians can finally free Iran. The block to a free Iran is trump.
A free Iran allied with Israel, India, the Kurds and others will reset the middle east and these nations together can produce all the munitions they need with no more need for america in possibly just 2 years.
Over half million Druse and christians in Syria will be exterminated if Israel obeys trump.
Trump does not want Iran free.
What stated above will be far bigger than Abraham accords and might collapse it into a new middle east alliance centered in strength of Israel Iran India and others together.
Trump does not want anything to overshadow his accords as then he gets no Nobel, loses all the wealth trump and lackeys plan from the accords, loss of america power to push nations around, and delay in the ai beast system trump has planned for the region and USA.
Biden and Obama are so bad and evil that trump looks good.He is not. Same evil with different style and some different players.
Too many are lulled into a good v. Evil conflict. If one side is blatantly evil, they assume the other side must be good with a few warts. Few are aware of the evil v. evil conflict. Evil fights evil for top position in the nwo, and this is where people are both understanding.
I can’t write a thesis here but while trump does noticable good, he is doing great evil at the same time. Even good actions today can lead to bad down the road but few look at long term implications of things.
Hey, outside of certain bunker busters, Obama allowed Israel tons of munitions.more than any president before as Israel had to concede things for that.
Trump is no different than Obama but has friendlier talk.
jewdog says
There is a great lesson to be learned by the example of Syria when one looks at these late events.
Start from the overthrow of the Assad regime. After that, the slate was wiped clean. Syria had a new regime and a chance to be united, peaceful and prosperous. The US lifted sanctions, and world leaders eagerly extended recognition and goodwill to the new regime.
Despite these opportunities, almost immediately, attacks were carried out on minorities: Alawaites, Christians and Druze by Sunni Bedouins and regime troops. Following that, al-Sharaa denied responsibility, obviously afraid of losing his international support.
Be that as it may, al-Sharaa’s personal guilt is, in a sense, beside the point, which is that Syria is being brought down once again by sectarian violence.
The larger lesson here is that the war against Israel is primarily a religious war, and not primarliy a political war of oppressed people. After all, what did the Druze, or the Jews, or the other peoples, do to merit being killed and tortured, except by being considered infidels under Islam?
Brenrod says
Trump and Europe are supporting an AQ/ISIS governed state in Syria, duh?
somehistory says
A bully only stops under three circumstances: he runs out of victims, he’s too old or sick to bully, or someone stronger comes along and is not afraid to take him on.
The “leader” of Syria is a terrorist. The terrorist leader, leads terrorists. Everyone not of his ilk, his tribe, his gang, should recognize that fact. He is not yet out of victims, and he’s not old or sick.
tgusa says
Born in 59 I have grown up reading about hearing about the same stuff we read about today. Murder, Kidnapping, Blowing Airliners up, War in the Middle East. Israel today has the opportunity of a lifetime.
They should push further in their destruction of all of their enemies (and ours) around them. Who is going to stop them? They have Allies scattered all around those areas.
I said it in the aftermath of Oct 7 as the pro hamas media decried Israels response. Once you realize and acknowledge you are in it you better go all the way. Unless you want the same old same old to continue.
I hope Israel pushes harder and further. They have my support. They are now already well in to it so they might as well go all the way.
Qatar plane and Saudi money says
Due to the dirty Saudi money and the Qatar aircraft, America are not helping Israel now. There will be no peace in Syria until the Kurdish Workers’ Party takes power.