UN envoy urges Israel to halt Syria attacks 'at once'
AFPSat, May 3, 2025
Israeli soldiers stop a Syrian Druze family, who fled sectarian violence outside Damascus, from crossing the buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on Golan Heights. (Jalaa MAREY)Jalaa MAREY/AFP/AFPMore
United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen urged Israel Saturday to halt its attacks on Syria "at once", after it carried out multiple air strikes targeting the Islamist-led authorities following sectarian violence this week.
Fresh Israeli raids were reported overnight, after Israel said repeatedly that its forces stood ready to protect the Druze minority after sectarian clashes killed 119 people, mostly Druze fighters, according to a Britain-based war monitor.
Since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria's new authorities -- who have roots in Al-Qaeda -- have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but they must also contend with pressure from radical Islamists in their ranks.
"I strongly condemn Israel's continued and escalating violations of Syria's sovereignty, including multiple air strikes in Damascus and other cities," Pedersen said in a post on X, calling "for these attacks to cease at once".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 20 strikes hit military targets across Syria late Friday, in the "heaviest" assault carried out by Israel on its neighbour this year.
Syria's state news agency SANA reported strikes near Damascus and in the country's centre, west and south, saying one civilian was killed.
An Israeli military statement said its forces "struck a military site, anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria". It did not give further details.
Firas Aabdeen, 32, a member of the security forces in Harasta near Damascus where one of the attacks hit, said he heard several "very loud" strikes and that a largely disused Assad-era military barracks was targeted.
The barrage followed an Israeli attack near the presidential palace in Damascus early on Friday, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz called a "clear message" to Syria's new rulers.
"We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community," they said.
Israeli foe Iran, which propped up the now ousted Assad government, condemned the strikes, accusing Israel of seeking to "destroy and annihilate the defence, economic and infrastructure capabilities of Syria as an independent country".
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, also an Assad ally, said that the attacks were "a clear attempt to undermine" and weaken Syria.
- Israel army 'deployed' in south -
The Israeli military said it was "deployed in southern Syria" and "prepared to prevent the entry of hostile forces into the area of Druze villages".
Since the collapse of the Assad government late last year, Israeli troops have entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights and have carried out incursions deeper into southern Syria.
It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli army was speaking of a new deployment or how many troops were involved.
A Druze official in the community's heartland in Sweida province, said there had been "no deployment of Israeli soldiers" there.
This week, Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to a united Syria, following clashes between Druze fighters and loyalists of the new government.
The unrest in Sweida and the southern suburbs of the capital was sparked by the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous. AFP was unable to confirm its authenticity.
- 'Directly interfering' -
The Observatory and Druze residents said forces affiliated with the new government attacked the towns of Jaramana and Sahnaya near Damascus and clashed with Druze gunmen.
The government blamed "outlaw groups" for the violence.
A de-escalation deal saw government troop deploy in Sahnaya and tighter security around Jaramana.
Israel's military said "five Syrian Druze citizens were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel overnight" after sustaining injuries in Syria.
The Druze official in Sweida said they were wounded "in clashes in Sahnaya" and feared being detained if they sought treatment in Damascus.
Middle East analyst Andreas Krieg said Israel was "directly interfering in the transition process in Syria".
Israel is using the Druze issue "as some sort of pretext to justify their military occupation" of parts of Syria, he told AFP.
burs-lar/lg/kir
Syria slams Israeli Damascus strike as 'dangerous escalation'
AFP
Fri, May 2, 2025
Syria's Islamist rulers on Friday denounced an air strike near the presidential palace as a "dangerous escalation", as Israel called it a "clear message" not to harm the Druze minority.
The dawn strike came hours after senior Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to Damascus and rejected any call for secession.
They also urged the authorities to appoint local officials to government posts in the Druze heartland in Sweida province.
Their statement followed sectarian clashes between Druze fighters and Syrian forces, including government-affiliated groups.
The clashes killed more than 100 people in Jaramana and Sahnaya near Damascus and in Sweida, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Also Friday, an apparent drone strike killed four Druze fighters at a farm in Sweida, the Observatory said.
It was unclear who was behind the strike, but Syria's official SANA news agency insisted it was an Israeli attack.
Friday's early morning blast in the presidential palace area of Damascus was heard across the city, an AFP correspondent reported.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said "warplanes attacked... the area near Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa's palace in Damascus", referring to the interim president.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz called it a "clear message" to Syria's new rulers.
"We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community," they said.
Syria's presidency called the strike "a dangerous escalation against state institutions", and accused Israel of destabilising the country.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli strike as a violation of Syria's sovereignty, his spokesman said.
The UN-mandated Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria expressed concern at the "deadly clashes with sectarian dimensions", and said Israeli air strikes increased the risk to civilians.
After this week's clashes a deal to de-escalate was agreed between Druze representatives and the government, prompting troop deployments in Sahnaya and tighter security around Jaramana.
Syrian officials said the agreement also included the immediate surrender of heavy weapons.
An AFP photographer saw troops taking over checkpoints from Druze gunmen in Jaramana, although no handover of weapons was witnessed.
- 'Outlaw groups' -
Qatar, a main backer of Syria's new rulers, and Saudi Arabia condemned Israel's "aggression", and a German foreign ministry statement said "Syria must not become the venue for regional tensions to be played out".
Israel has attacked hundreds of military sites since Islamist-led forces deposed longtime president Bashar al-Assad in December.
It has also sent troops into the demilitarised buffer zone that used to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
On Wednesday, Israel launched strikes near Damascus and threatened more if violence against the Druze continued.
The unrest inside Syria was sparked by the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous. AFP was unable to confirm its authenticity.
Syria's government said "outlaw groups" were behind the violence, but the Observatory and Druze residents said forces affiliated with the new authorities attacked Jaramana and Sahnaya and clashed with Druze gunmen.
"The situation is calm, but we are scared. Everyone is terrified," 35-year-old housewife Arij told AFP, adding that many Christians and Druze "have fled to Damascus".
- 'Genocidal campaign' -
Mohamad Halawa, a security official in Damascus province, said there was now a security cordon around Jaramana where residents would be "under the umbrella of the state and the judiciary".
In Sweida, religious authorities and military factions said after a meeting that they are "an inseparable part of the united Syrian homeland", and rejected "division, separation or secession".
SANA said security forces were being sent to Sweida to "maintain security".
The move came after Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a Druze spiritual leader, on Thursday condemned what he called a "genocidal campaign" against his people.
Syria's new Islamist authorities have roots in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network. They have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but must also contend with internal pressures from radical Islamists.
On Friday, Sharaa met Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who on Wednesday urged the minority community in Syria to reject "Israeli interference".
The latest violence follows massacres of Alawites in March, when the Observatory said the security forces and their allies killed more than 1,700 civilians.
It was the worst bloodshed since the overthrow of Assad, who is from the minority community.
The government accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence, and launched an inquiry.
bur/srm/kir
Israel says it struck near Syria palace over violence in Druze areas
David Gritten -
Fri, May 2, 2025
BBC
A Syrian TV channel said the Israeli strike hit an empty area near the presidential palace, which is on a hill in north-west Damascus [AFP]
Israel says its fighter jets bombed an area next to the presidential palace in Syria's capital Damascus on Friday morning, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to protect the Druze religious minority following days of deadly sectarian violence.
Netanyahu said the strike was a "clear message to the Syrian regime" that Israel would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community".
Later on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had launched another wave of air strikes, attacking military targets. Syrian state media reported explosions north of Damascus and in the countryside close to the city of Hama.
The Syrian presidency has said it strongly condemns the strikes, calling them a "dangerous escalation" intended to destabilise Syria.
Israel also carried out strikes south of Damascus on Wednesday during clashes between Druze gunmen, security forces and allied Sunni Islamist fighters.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticised the latest Israeli bombing, calling it a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".
In a statement delivered by his spokesman, Guterres called for Israel to stop such attacks and to respect Syria's "unity, its territorial integrity and its independence".
A spiritual leader of Syria's Druze, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, condemned the violence on Thursday as an "unjustifiable genocidal campaign" against his community and called for intervention by "international forces to maintain peace".
Other Druze religious leaders put out a statement early on Friday confirming what they said was the community's "commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife", according to the Associated Press.
They also reportedly said the state should be activated in Suweida province, and that authorities should be in control of the Suweida-Damascus highway.
The Syrian government said it had deployed security forces to Druze areas to combat "outlaw groups" which it accused of instigating the clashes.
Deadly clashes in Syria's Druze areas raise fears of widening unrest
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Al Jazeera
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, at least 109 people have been killed this week in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, a town in the southern outskirts of Damascus, the mainly Druze suburb of Jaramana, and the southern province of Suweida, which has a Druze majority.
It says that includes 11 Druze civilians and 26 Druze fighters, as well as another 42 Druze men who were shot dead in an "ambush" by security forces while travelling from Suweida to Damascus on Wednesday. Thirty members of the General Security service and allied fighters have also been killed, it says.
Istanbul-based Syria TV reported that the Israeli air strike near the presidential palace appeared to have targeted an empty area, and that there were no reports of casualties or material damage.
Israel's Defence Minister issued a statement saying that when the Syrian president woke up and saw the results he would "understand well that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria".
"It is [Sharaa's] duty to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from jihadist assailants and to allow the hundreds of thousands of Druze in Suweida and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves on their own, rather than sending jihadist forces into their communities," he added.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the Syrian presidency said it "condemned in the strongest terms the bombing of the presidential palace yesterday by the Israeli occupation, which constitutes a dangerous escalation against state institutions and the sovereignty of the state".
"This reprehensible attack reflects the continuation of reckless movements that seek to destabilize the country and exacerbate security crises," it added.
The presidency also called on the international community to stand by Syria in confronting the attacks, which it said violated international law.
A Druze religious leader in Suweida, Sheikh Hamoud al-Hinawi, meanwhile told the BBC that the situation was "still tense" in the affected areas.
"What is happening right now is sectarian targeting by extremist elements [and] it is the duty of the state to protect civilians," he said.
"We support the rule of law and national sovereignty of Syria, as long as the national government is protecting its citizens and adhering to its commitment to rebuilding a modern Syria."
When asked whether he supported the Israeli intervention, Sheikh Hinawi said: "It's not a matter of whether I am for or against Israel - it is a matter of life and death for us and if we are being attacked we have every right defend ourselves."
On Thursday, a member of the security forces deployed in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya told the BBC that they were "not targeting any sect, but rather dealing with an armed group acting outside the law, regardless of its religious affiliation", adding: "Any such group will be held accountable."
Syrian security forces said they were deployed to combat "outlaw groups" in Druze areas south of Damascus [Reuters]
The sectarian violence erupted in Jaramana on Monday night after an audio clip of a man insulting the Prophet Muhammad circulated on social media and angered Sunni Muslims. It was attributed to a Druze cleric, but he denied any responsibility. The interior ministry also said a preliminary inquiry had cleared him.
The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs. Half its roughly one million followers live in Syria, where they make up about 3% of the population, while there are smaller communities in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.
Syria's transitional President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has promised to protect the country's many religious and ethnic minorities since his Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in December after 13 years of devastating civil war.
However, the mass killings of hundreds of civilians from Assad's minority Alawite sect in the western coastal region in March, during clashes between the new security forces and Assad loyalists, hardened fears among minority communities.
In February, Israel's prime minister warned that he would not "tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria" from the country's new security forces.
Netanyahu also demanded the complete demilitarisation of Suweida and two other southern provinces, saying Israel saw Sharaa's Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a threat. HTS is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU and the UK.
The Israeli military has already carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria to destroy the country's military assets over the past four months. It has also sent troops into the UN-monitored demilitarised buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as well as several adjoining areas and the summit of Mount Hermon.
A Syrian TV channel said the Israeli strike hit an empty area near the presidential palace, which is on a hill in north-west Damascus [AFP]
Israel says its fighter jets bombed an area next to the presidential palace in Syria's capital Damascus on Friday morning, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to protect the Druze religious minority following days of deadly sectarian violence.
Netanyahu said the strike was a "clear message to the Syrian regime" that Israel would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community".
Later on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had launched another wave of air strikes, attacking military targets. Syrian state media reported explosions north of Damascus and in the countryside close to the city of Hama.
The Syrian presidency has said it strongly condemns the strikes, calling them a "dangerous escalation" intended to destabilise Syria.
Israel also carried out strikes south of Damascus on Wednesday during clashes between Druze gunmen, security forces and allied Sunni Islamist fighters.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticised the latest Israeli bombing, calling it a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".
In a statement delivered by his spokesman, Guterres called for Israel to stop such attacks and to respect Syria's "unity, its territorial integrity and its independence".
A spiritual leader of Syria's Druze, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, condemned the violence on Thursday as an "unjustifiable genocidal campaign" against his community and called for intervention by "international forces to maintain peace".
Other Druze religious leaders put out a statement early on Friday confirming what they said was the community's "commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife", according to the Associated Press.
They also reportedly said the state should be activated in Suweida province, and that authorities should be in control of the Suweida-Damascus highway.
The Syrian government said it had deployed security forces to Druze areas to combat "outlaw groups" which it accused of instigating the clashes.
Deadly clashes in Syria's Druze areas raise fears of widening unrest
Israel says it struck gunmen attacking Druze in Syria after deadly clashes
First Druze crossing in 50 years as Israel courts allies in Syria
Israeli attacks kill two more as Syria government reaches deal with Druze
Al Jazeera
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, at least 109 people have been killed this week in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, a town in the southern outskirts of Damascus, the mainly Druze suburb of Jaramana, and the southern province of Suweida, which has a Druze majority.
It says that includes 11 Druze civilians and 26 Druze fighters, as well as another 42 Druze men who were shot dead in an "ambush" by security forces while travelling from Suweida to Damascus on Wednesday. Thirty members of the General Security service and allied fighters have also been killed, it says.
Istanbul-based Syria TV reported that the Israeli air strike near the presidential palace appeared to have targeted an empty area, and that there were no reports of casualties or material damage.
Israel's Defence Minister issued a statement saying that when the Syrian president woke up and saw the results he would "understand well that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria".
"It is [Sharaa's] duty to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from jihadist assailants and to allow the hundreds of thousands of Druze in Suweida and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves on their own, rather than sending jihadist forces into their communities," he added.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the Syrian presidency said it "condemned in the strongest terms the bombing of the presidential palace yesterday by the Israeli occupation, which constitutes a dangerous escalation against state institutions and the sovereignty of the state".
"This reprehensible attack reflects the continuation of reckless movements that seek to destabilize the country and exacerbate security crises," it added.
The presidency also called on the international community to stand by Syria in confronting the attacks, which it said violated international law.
A Druze religious leader in Suweida, Sheikh Hamoud al-Hinawi, meanwhile told the BBC that the situation was "still tense" in the affected areas.
"What is happening right now is sectarian targeting by extremist elements [and] it is the duty of the state to protect civilians," he said.
"We support the rule of law and national sovereignty of Syria, as long as the national government is protecting its citizens and adhering to its commitment to rebuilding a modern Syria."
When asked whether he supported the Israeli intervention, Sheikh Hinawi said: "It's not a matter of whether I am for or against Israel - it is a matter of life and death for us and if we are being attacked we have every right defend ourselves."
On Thursday, a member of the security forces deployed in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya told the BBC that they were "not targeting any sect, but rather dealing with an armed group acting outside the law, regardless of its religious affiliation", adding: "Any such group will be held accountable."
Syrian security forces said they were deployed to combat "outlaw groups" in Druze areas south of Damascus [Reuters]
The sectarian violence erupted in Jaramana on Monday night after an audio clip of a man insulting the Prophet Muhammad circulated on social media and angered Sunni Muslims. It was attributed to a Druze cleric, but he denied any responsibility. The interior ministry also said a preliminary inquiry had cleared him.
The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs. Half its roughly one million followers live in Syria, where they make up about 3% of the population, while there are smaller communities in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.
Syria's transitional President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has promised to protect the country's many religious and ethnic minorities since his Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in December after 13 years of devastating civil war.
However, the mass killings of hundreds of civilians from Assad's minority Alawite sect in the western coastal region in March, during clashes between the new security forces and Assad loyalists, hardened fears among minority communities.
In February, Israel's prime minister warned that he would not "tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria" from the country's new security forces.
Netanyahu also demanded the complete demilitarisation of Suweida and two other southern provinces, saying Israel saw Sharaa's Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a threat. HTS is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU and the UK.
The Israeli military has already carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria to destroy the country's military assets over the past four months. It has also sent troops into the UN-monitored demilitarised buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as well as several adjoining areas and the summit of Mount Hermon.
Israel conducts airstrike near Syrian presidential palace following Druze clashes
Oman Al Yahyai
Fri, May 2, 2025
Fri, May 2, 2025
EURONEWS
Israel conducts airstrike near Syrian presidential palace following Druze clashes
Israel's air force launched a strike early on Friday near Syria’s presidential palace in a warning for the Syrian government to stop attacks on the country's Druze minority.
The military intervention came as dozens of people have been killed in clashes between pro-government forces and Druze militias near the capital Damascus.
Fighting broke out earlier this week after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticising Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric, but the new Syrian government — led by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Ahmed al-Sharaa — has confirmed that the man was not involved.
Israel's strike on Friday was the second time the country has intervened in Syria this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the move on Friday was a direct warning to the Syrian authorities.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow a withdrawal of forces from south of Damascus or any danger to the Druze community,” they said in a joint statement.
State-affiliated Syrian media reported that the strike landed near the People’s Palace, situated on a hill overlooking the capital.
After Israeli strikes south of Damascus on Wednesday, the Syrian government hit out at what it called "foreign intervention" in its country.
On Thursday, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, the Druze's spiritual leader in Syria, condemned the Syrian government’s actions against the minority population.
However, the Druze religious leadership stressed that their community is part of Syria.
“We confirm our commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife,” they said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 56 people, including local armed fighters and security forces, were killed in the Sahnaya area and in Jaramana, a suburb of Damascus with a significant Druze population.
The Druze are a religious minority whose faith originated as a branch of Shiite Islam.
Nine killed in clashes between Druze gunmen and government forces in Syria
Druze protesters block roads in Galilee over deadly Syria clashes
Of the approximately one million Druze globally, over half reside in Syria, with many living in the southern province of Sweida and the outskirts of Damascus.
Significant Druze communities also live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights — territory Israel seized from Syria during the 1967 Middle East War and formally annexed in 1981.
Al-Sharaa's government has promised to protect religious minorities since ousting the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.
However, this pledge was called into question after hundreds of civilians from al-Assad's Alawite sect were killed in March in western Syria.
Israel conducts airstrike near Syrian presidential palace following Druze clashes
Israel's air force launched a strike early on Friday near Syria’s presidential palace in a warning for the Syrian government to stop attacks on the country's Druze minority.
The military intervention came as dozens of people have been killed in clashes between pro-government forces and Druze militias near the capital Damascus.
Fighting broke out earlier this week after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticising Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric, but the new Syrian government — led by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Ahmed al-Sharaa — has confirmed that the man was not involved.
Israel's strike on Friday was the second time the country has intervened in Syria this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the move on Friday was a direct warning to the Syrian authorities.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow a withdrawal of forces from south of Damascus or any danger to the Druze community,” they said in a joint statement.
State-affiliated Syrian media reported that the strike landed near the People’s Palace, situated on a hill overlooking the capital.
After Israeli strikes south of Damascus on Wednesday, the Syrian government hit out at what it called "foreign intervention" in its country.
On Thursday, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, the Druze's spiritual leader in Syria, condemned the Syrian government’s actions against the minority population.
However, the Druze religious leadership stressed that their community is part of Syria.
“We confirm our commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife,” they said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 56 people, including local armed fighters and security forces, were killed in the Sahnaya area and in Jaramana, a suburb of Damascus with a significant Druze population.
The Druze are a religious minority whose faith originated as a branch of Shiite Islam.
Nine killed in clashes between Druze gunmen and government forces in Syria
Druze protesters block roads in Galilee over deadly Syria clashes
Of the approximately one million Druze globally, over half reside in Syria, with many living in the southern province of Sweida and the outskirts of Damascus.
Significant Druze communities also live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights — territory Israel seized from Syria during the 1967 Middle East War and formally annexed in 1981.
Al-Sharaa's government has promised to protect religious minorities since ousting the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.
However, this pledge was called into question after hundreds of civilians from al-Assad's Alawite sect were killed in March in western Syria.
What is behind the latest round of clashes in Syria between Druze and pro-government gunmen
BASSEM MROUE
Fri, May 2, 2025
AFP
A Druze man, center, stands next to Syrian security forces who reached a deal with Druze gunmen to deploy around the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana that has witnessed fighting earlier this week in Damascus, Syria, early Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)More
BEIRUT (AP) — Four days of clashes between pro-government gunmen and members of a minority sect in Syria have left nearly 100 people dead and raised fears of deadly sectarian violence. The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship.
The clashes are the worst between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar Assad in early December whose family ruled Syria with an iron grip for more than five decades.
The situation between the two sides has been tense for weeks and a smaller clash broke out in March in a suburb of Damascus.
Here are the main reasons the clashes expanded in recent days and background on the two sides:
Who are the Druze?
The Druze religious sec t is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
The transitional government has promised to include the Druze, but has so far kept authority in the hands of the Islamist former insurgents who toppled Assad in December — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.
The new 23-member government in Syria announced in late March only has one Druze member, Minister of Agriculture Amjad Badr.
Under the Assad family's tight rule, religious freedom was guaranteed as the country then boasted about its secular and Arab nationalist system.
The Druze have been slightly divided over how to deal with their issues with the new status quo in the country. Most Druze support a dialogue with the government while others support a more confrontational approach, so the reactions have differed while they are all concerned about the safety of their people.
What is behind the tension between the two sides
Syria’s religious and ethnic communities are worried about their place in Syria’s new system that is mostly run by Islamists including some who have links to extremist groups.
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The country’s new President Ahmad al-Sharaa himself is a former militant who once was a member of al-Qaida and was held for years in jails in neighboring Iraq for his role in the anti-American insurgency. Although al-Sharaa had said that the right of ethnic and religious minorities will be protected, there have been several rounds of sectarian killings since Assad’s fall.
The Assad family rule that was dominated by members of the Alawite sect had oppressed much of the country’s Sunni majority while giving minorities some powers. Being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic group in the country decades ago, was punishable by death as of the 1980s.
The Druze have major concerns about Muslim groups since they came under attack by members of the Islamic State group in 2018 in the southern Sweida province. It left dozens killed or wounded and more than two dozen people were taken hostage for nearly four months. Muslim extremists consider the Druze heretics.
During Syria's 14-year conflict, the Druze had their own militias.
What triggered the clashes?
The clashes broke out around midnight Monday in the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticizing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric. But cleric Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims.
The fighting later spread to the outskirts of the southern town of Sakhnaya triggering the first Israeli airstrike against pro-government gunmen. Israeli officials, whose country has its own Druze community, have vowed to protect the Druze of Syria and warned Islamic groups form entering predominantly Druze areas.
The clashes have pulled Israel further into the conflict with the airstrike two days ago and Friday marked a major increase in tensions with an attack close to the presidential palace in Damascus in what Syria’s presidency called a major escalation.
Israel does not want what it calls Islamic extremists near the country’s northern border. Since Assad’s fall, Israel has carved a buffer zone in southern Syria and has destroyed much of the Syrian army’s assets so they don’t fall into the hands of groups that removed him from power.
Israel had been warning for decades that Iran and its proxies pose a danger along its northern border, and now it is doing the same with the new authorities in Syria who are backed by Turkey.
Other sporadic attacks in different areas as well as an ambush on the Damascus-Sweida highway made the situation worse until a deal was reached early Friday after which Interior Ministry forces and local Druze gunmen deployed in different areas.
The Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 99 people were killed over the past four days, of which 51 were killed in Sakhnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana. Among them were local gunmen and security forces.
What are the main concerns?
The clashes near Damascus and in southern Syria came nearly two months after an ambush by fighters loyal to Assad triggered days of sectarian and revenge attacks. The fighting in the country’s coastal region left more than 1,000 people dead. Many of the dead were civilians who were gunned down because they belonged to the minority Alawite sect that Assad belongs to.
Security forces deployed in the coastal province of Latakia and Tartus but activists say that sectarian killings against Alawites are still taking place albeit at a much slower pace when compared to the early March attacks.
Members of religious minorities in Syria such as Alawites, Christians and Druze fear persecution by the main Sunni Muslim groups. Videos have circulated on social media showing Islamist fighters insulting Druze detainees and humiliating them such as shaving their mustaches.
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Israel strikes near Syria's presidential palace in 'message' to new leader Sharaa
Reuters
Thu, May 1, 2025
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
A Druze resident of Al-Soura al-Kubra, Salman Olaiwi, inspects his damaged home
DAMASCUS/SWEIDA, Syria (Reuters) -Israel bombed an area near the presidential palace in Damascus early on Friday, in its clearest warning yet to Syria's new Islamist-led authorities of its readiness to ramp up military action in the name of the country's Druze minority.
Syria's government called the bombing a "dangerous escalation" amid increasing hostility between the neighbours.
Israel has escalated military operations in Syria since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad in December, with bombings across the country and ground forces entering its southwest, while calling for Syria to remain decentralised and isolated.
It has framed its stance around its suspicion of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa - who once headed a branch of al Qaeda before renouncing ties to the group in 2016 - and a desire to protect the Druze, a minority sect that is an offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
The Israeli military said troops were deployed in southern Syria to prevent the return of hostile forces to areas around Druze villages. It said forces were ready for defence and "various scenarios".
It added that five Syrian-Druze citizens were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel after sustaining wounds.
Earlier Israel's military said it struck an area "adjacent" to Sharaa's palace in Damascus, without further details. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The strike was "a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow (Syrian) forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Syria's presidency condemned what it described as a "bombardment on the presidential palace" and said it marked a "dangerous escalation".
"Israel doesn't want peace. Nor does it care for the groups it purportedly protects by bombing others," Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Razan Saffour wrote on X, adding Israel had never bombed near the palace when Assad was in power.
A Syrian official told Reuters the target was about 100 metres (330 feet) east of the palace's perimeter.
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE
It followed days of clashes in Syria between Sunni Muslim and Druze gunmen triggered by a voice recording purportedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed. The fighting killed more than two dozen people in towns around Damascus and prompted an initial Israeli "warning strike" on a town on the capital's outskirts that killed one member of Syria's security forces.
Israeli opposition parties expressed support for operations in Syria.
"Israel cannot abandon the Druze in Syria to their fate," centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid said on the social media platform X. "The Syrian regime must know they are our allies and we will not stand by while they are attacked."
This week's fighting posed the latest challenge for Sharaa, who has repeatedly vowed to unite all of Syria's armed forces under one structure and govern the country, fractured by 14 years of civil war until Assad's overthrow, in an inclusive way.
But incidents of sectarian violence, notably the killing of hundreds of pro-Assad Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now-dominant Islamists and sparked condemnation from global powers.
On Thursday, the clashes began spreading further south to the province of Sweida, which is predominantly Druze.
'DON'T NEED ANYONE'S PROTECTION'
Late on Thursday, Druze community leaders and Syrian government officials met in Sweida in a bid to defuse tensions. Their concluding statement said residents of Sweida would protect their province as a part of Syria's internal security forces, and rejected "division, separation or secession".
"Syria is our mother nation, we do not have an alternative country," Sheikh Laith al-Balous, one of the Druze leaders in the meeting, told Syria TV in an interview when asked whether Israel's strikes on Syria were meant to protect the Druze. "We don't need anyone's protection."
Syrian security forces were patrolling the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra in Sweida province on Friday, where residents had fled clashes the previous day between approaching Sunni Islamist militants and Druze fighters defending the town.
Residents told Reuters that when they returned, they found their homes had been looted. Salman Olaiwi said his door had been broken down and money was missing, but that he was glad an agreement had been reached to end the fighting.
Israel has a small Druze community and there are also some 24,000 Druze living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel annexed the territory in 1981, a move that has not been recognised by most countries or the United Nations.
Some Druze in Israel serving in the Israeli military wrote to Netanyahu demanding help for their kin in Syria, saying "hundreds of fighters" were ready to volunteer to help.
(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi and Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Karam Masri in Al-Soura Al-Kubra, Timour Azhari and Tala Ramadan in Dubai and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; editing by Himani Sarkar, Lincoln Feast and Mark Heinrich)
Reuters
Thu, May 1, 2025
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
Syrian security forces deployed in the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra
A Druze resident of Al-Soura al-Kubra, Salman Olaiwi, inspects his damaged home
DAMASCUS/SWEIDA, Syria (Reuters) -Israel bombed an area near the presidential palace in Damascus early on Friday, in its clearest warning yet to Syria's new Islamist-led authorities of its readiness to ramp up military action in the name of the country's Druze minority.
Syria's government called the bombing a "dangerous escalation" amid increasing hostility between the neighbours.
Israel has escalated military operations in Syria since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad in December, with bombings across the country and ground forces entering its southwest, while calling for Syria to remain decentralised and isolated.
It has framed its stance around its suspicion of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa - who once headed a branch of al Qaeda before renouncing ties to the group in 2016 - and a desire to protect the Druze, a minority sect that is an offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
The Israeli military said troops were deployed in southern Syria to prevent the return of hostile forces to areas around Druze villages. It said forces were ready for defence and "various scenarios".
It added that five Syrian-Druze citizens were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel after sustaining wounds.
Earlier Israel's military said it struck an area "adjacent" to Sharaa's palace in Damascus, without further details. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The strike was "a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow (Syrian) forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Syria's presidency condemned what it described as a "bombardment on the presidential palace" and said it marked a "dangerous escalation".
"Israel doesn't want peace. Nor does it care for the groups it purportedly protects by bombing others," Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Razan Saffour wrote on X, adding Israel had never bombed near the palace when Assad was in power.
A Syrian official told Reuters the target was about 100 metres (330 feet) east of the palace's perimeter.
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE
It followed days of clashes in Syria between Sunni Muslim and Druze gunmen triggered by a voice recording purportedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed. The fighting killed more than two dozen people in towns around Damascus and prompted an initial Israeli "warning strike" on a town on the capital's outskirts that killed one member of Syria's security forces.
Israeli opposition parties expressed support for operations in Syria.
"Israel cannot abandon the Druze in Syria to their fate," centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid said on the social media platform X. "The Syrian regime must know they are our allies and we will not stand by while they are attacked."
This week's fighting posed the latest challenge for Sharaa, who has repeatedly vowed to unite all of Syria's armed forces under one structure and govern the country, fractured by 14 years of civil war until Assad's overthrow, in an inclusive way.
But incidents of sectarian violence, notably the killing of hundreds of pro-Assad Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now-dominant Islamists and sparked condemnation from global powers.
On Thursday, the clashes began spreading further south to the province of Sweida, which is predominantly Druze.
'DON'T NEED ANYONE'S PROTECTION'
Late on Thursday, Druze community leaders and Syrian government officials met in Sweida in a bid to defuse tensions. Their concluding statement said residents of Sweida would protect their province as a part of Syria's internal security forces, and rejected "division, separation or secession".
"Syria is our mother nation, we do not have an alternative country," Sheikh Laith al-Balous, one of the Druze leaders in the meeting, told Syria TV in an interview when asked whether Israel's strikes on Syria were meant to protect the Druze. "We don't need anyone's protection."
Syrian security forces were patrolling the village of Al-Soura al-Kubra in Sweida province on Friday, where residents had fled clashes the previous day between approaching Sunni Islamist militants and Druze fighters defending the town.
Residents told Reuters that when they returned, they found their homes had been looted. Salman Olaiwi said his door had been broken down and money was missing, but that he was glad an agreement had been reached to end the fighting.
Israel has a small Druze community and there are also some 24,000 Druze living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel annexed the territory in 1981, a move that has not been recognised by most countries or the United Nations.
Some Druze in Israel serving in the Israeli military wrote to Netanyahu demanding help for their kin in Syria, saying "hundreds of fighters" were ready to volunteer to help.
(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi and Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Karam Masri in Al-Soura Al-Kubra, Timour Azhari and Tala Ramadan in Dubai and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; editing by Himani Sarkar, Lincoln Feast and Mark Heinrich)
Syria's Druze take up arms to defend their town against Islamists
AFP
Thu, May 1, 2025
An armed man walks through the mostly Druze and Christian Damascus suburb of Jaramana, which came under attack by Islamists this week (LOUAI BESHARA)LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/AFPMore
Syrian estate agent Fahd Haidar shuttered his business and got out his rifle to defend his hometown of Jaramana when it came under attack this week by Islamists loyal to the new government.
Seven Druze fighters were among the 17 people killed in the Damascus suburb as clashes raged from Monday into Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
On Wednesday, the sectarian violence spread to the nearby town of Sahnaya, where 22 combatants were killed, the Britain-based war monitor said.
Fourteen years after former ruler Bashar al-Assad's bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests triggered a devastating civil war, Haidar said he feared a return to "chaos", a slide into a "quagmire of grievances that will affect every Syrian".
He appealed to the new authorities, who took over after Assad's ouster in December, to step back from the brink and find "radical solutions" to rein in "uncontrolled gangs" like those who attacked his mainly Druze and Christian hometown this week.
In Jaramana, Druze leaders reached a deal with government representatives on Tuesday evening to put a halt to the fighting.
On Wednesday morning, an AFP correspondent saw hundreds of armed Druze, some of them just boys, deployed across the town.
- 'War footing' -
Behind mounds of earth piled up as improvised defences, Druze fighters handed out weapons and ammunition.
"For the past two days, the people of Jaramana have been on a war footing," said local activist Rabii Mondher.
"Everybody is scared -- of war... of coming under siege, of a new assault and new martyrs."
Like many residents in the confessionally mixed town, Mondher said he hoped "peace will be restored... because we have no choice but to live together".
Mounir Baaker lost his nephew Riadh in this week's clashes.
"We don't take an eye for an eye," he said tearfully, as he received the condolences of friends and neighbours.
"Jaramana is not used to this," he went on, holding up a photograph of his slain nephew, who was among a number of young Druze men from the town who signed up to join the new security forces after Assad's ouster.
"We're brought up to be tolerant, not to strike back and not to attack anyone, whoever they are," he said. "But we defend ourselves if we are attacked."
mon/lar/kir/saw
Thu, May 1, 2025
An armed man walks through the mostly Druze and Christian Damascus suburb of Jaramana, which came under attack by Islamists this week (LOUAI BESHARA)LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/AFPMore
Syrian estate agent Fahd Haidar shuttered his business and got out his rifle to defend his hometown of Jaramana when it came under attack this week by Islamists loyal to the new government.
Seven Druze fighters were among the 17 people killed in the Damascus suburb as clashes raged from Monday into Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
On Wednesday, the sectarian violence spread to the nearby town of Sahnaya, where 22 combatants were killed, the Britain-based war monitor said.
Fourteen years after former ruler Bashar al-Assad's bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests triggered a devastating civil war, Haidar said he feared a return to "chaos", a slide into a "quagmire of grievances that will affect every Syrian".
He appealed to the new authorities, who took over after Assad's ouster in December, to step back from the brink and find "radical solutions" to rein in "uncontrolled gangs" like those who attacked his mainly Druze and Christian hometown this week.
In Jaramana, Druze leaders reached a deal with government representatives on Tuesday evening to put a halt to the fighting.
On Wednesday morning, an AFP correspondent saw hundreds of armed Druze, some of them just boys, deployed across the town.
- 'War footing' -
Behind mounds of earth piled up as improvised defences, Druze fighters handed out weapons and ammunition.
"For the past two days, the people of Jaramana have been on a war footing," said local activist Rabii Mondher.
"Everybody is scared -- of war... of coming under siege, of a new assault and new martyrs."
Like many residents in the confessionally mixed town, Mondher said he hoped "peace will be restored... because we have no choice but to live together".
Mounir Baaker lost his nephew Riadh in this week's clashes.
"We don't take an eye for an eye," he said tearfully, as he received the condolences of friends and neighbours.
"Jaramana is not used to this," he went on, holding up a photograph of his slain nephew, who was among a number of young Druze men from the town who signed up to join the new security forces after Assad's ouster.
"We're brought up to be tolerant, not to strike back and not to attack anyone, whoever they are," he said. "But we defend ourselves if we are attacked."
mon/lar/kir/saw
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