Before the current ceasefire was announced, hundreds of Druze had crossed into Syria from Israel by mid-June, to fight to protect fellow Druze from attacks by the Sunni soldiers of the Syrian army, 200 of whom are now in the Druze stronghold of Suweida, and another thousand on the city’s outskirts. But those Druze could be kidnapped or killed by the Syrian army, and their presence also hampers the ability of the IDF to use airstrikes, for fear of hitting these Druze. The IDF is trying to force the Syrian army to leave Suweida. It has launched airstrikes on Syrian tanks and military vehicles inside and just outside Suweida. The IDF has also been hitting military targets in Damascus, including the Syrian military headquarters, to put even more pressure on Al-Sharaa to pull his troops out of Suweida.
Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly assured the Druze that the IDF will protect them, and he has asked the hundreds of Israeli Druze now in Syria to return home. More on the latest news about the IDF, the Druze, and the Syrian army can be found here: “Netanyahu: ‘My Druze brothers, do not cross the border into Syria, let the IDF do its job,'” Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2025:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border amid ongoing clashes in Sweida in southern Syria on Wednesday afternoon.
“You are endangering your lives; you could be killed, you could be kidnapped, and you are harming the IDF’s efforts,” Netanyahu said.
“The IDF, air force, and other forces are operating. We are taking action to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the regime’s militias. Therefore, I ask you — return to your homes. Let the IDF do its job,” he added.
“To our Druze brothers in Israel: You can trust the IDF to protect your brothers in Syria. Netanyahu and I, as defense minister, have made a commitment, and we will uphold it,” Defense Minister Israel Katz added.
“The IDF will continue to operate forcefully in Sweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until their full withdrawal,” he continued.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar alleged that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s regime has committed “persecution and pogroms” against minority groups in Syria….
Sunnis in Syria, including some from the Syrian military, attacked Alawites, mostly civilians, in the Alawite heartland of Latakia, in March, killing at least 1,500. Some Alawite sources claim that tens of thousands were killed. Other Alawites have also been murdered outside of Latakia. Al-Sharaa promised to punish those responsible, but so far no arrests have been made.
Christians, too, have been killed by Sunni Arabs in Damascus and Aleppo. The worst attack was the suicide bombing of the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus on June 22, in which 30 parishioners died and 63 were wounded. It was the worst attack on Christians in Syria, according to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X Yazigi, since a massacre of Christians in 1860. At a funeral for some of the victims, Yazigi publicly rebuked President Ahmed al-Sharaa during a funeral service last Tuesday, blaming his administration for failing to protect religious minorities. “What is important to me — and I will say it — is that the government bears responsibility in full,” he said, drawing applause from hundreds of mourners attending the service. In addition to the attack on Mar Elias, a suicide bomber attacked the Deir Ibrahim al-Khalil Monastery in Douweila, and other assailants targeted the Church of Our Lady in Maqsura.
Meanwhile, the office of the Syrian Presidency issued a statement condemning the recent violence between the regime’s forces and the local Druze community.
“The Syrian government strongly condemns these heinous actions and reaffirms our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and holding accountable anyone proven to be involved, whether individuals or foreign organizations operating outside the law. Legal consequences will be imposed, and impunity will not be tolerated,” the statement said.
That assurance is hardly reassuring, since those “heinous actions” against the Druze have been committed by the Syrian army itself. And the Syrian state has a poor record of protecting minorities. It did nothing to stop the attacks on Alawites in Latakia, in which Sunni militias and even army soldiers took part, nor has it arrested any of the participants. The government failed to provide enhanced security for the Christians that might have foiled the suicide bombing of the Mar Elias church. In a recent poll, only 19% of Christians in Syria said they felt safe, and that was before the bombing of Mar Elias.
Now the world can see that the Druze in Syria have only one protector. It’s not the EU, nor the UN, but the “colonial-settler ethnic-cleansing genocidal” state of Israel, that so many love to denounce.
cornelius says
Quite obviously, the Syrian gov’t does not have control over its component parts. The veneer of moderation at the top is hiding an extremist rank-and-file. One wonders how long Al Sharaa has before he’s devoured by his own.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
One thing that’s surprised me – how is it that the UN and the usual crowd – Dave Smith, Rashida Tlaib, et al – not come out & condemned Israel? Unlike in the cases of October 7th, the jihadists in southwest Syria didn’t do a thing to the Israelis, but got attacked for it anyway (not condemning the Israeli attack, just noting the bizzare yardstick w/ which they are usually condemned). Only thing I can conclude from their silence is that they’re only interested in condemning Israel for retaliating against an attack, casualties or none, as opposed to initiating one for altruistic reasons?
Cynthia says
Israel was condemned on BBC by a Middle East “expert”. She claimed Israel was promoting sectarian divisions within the country and wanted a land grab. She also said Israel was thwarting international law.
The inversion of the truth and the moral depravity matched that of the deceitful Islamists.