In a dramatic escalation of tensions with Syria, Israel has launched air strikes just meters away from the Syrian presidential palace in Damascus, the official residence of Syria’s Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, in a clear warning to the ruling regime that Israel is committed to protecting the country’s Druze minority.
The airstrikes on May 2 came in response to this week’s sectarian violence against the Druze community in Syria’s capital, Damascus, in which more than 30 people have already died.
The Israeli government was under increasing pressure to take some retaliatory action after the Druze community in northern Israel enforced roadblocks at key national highways demanding that Tel Aviv take some action to assist the beleaguered Druze minority in Syria.
“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Katz later wrote on X that the strikes were a warning to Syrian leader Jolani.
“The Air Force’s attack tonight on the Presidential Palace in Damascus, which the Prime Minister and I directed, is a clear warning message to the Syrian regime. When Jolani (al-Sharaa) wakes up in the morning and sees the results of the Israeli Air Force fighter jets’ strike, he understands that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria.
“It is his duty to protect the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus from attacks by jihadist rioters and to enable the hundreds of thousands of Druze in Sweida and Jabal al-Druze to defend themselves on their own, and not to send jihadist forces into the villages,” Katz continued. “It is our duty to protect the Druze in Syria from harm, for the sake of our Druze brothers in Israel, their loyalty to the state, and their immense contribution to Israel’s security.”
Rising Violence Against Druzes In Syria
The air strikes by Israeli fighter jets on May 2 came following several days of violent clashes between armed Druze groups and Syrian security forces in and around the capital Damascus. The suburb of Jaramana, a diverse area home to Druze, Christian, and Muslim communities, saw repeated violent clashes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition body operating from outside Syria, has reported 21 deaths in the past 24 hours and 101 in recent days.
This week’s sectarian violence follows similar clashes in March in the Jaramana suburb. After the violence in March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to “prepare to defend” Jaramana. However, the IDF ultimately did not intervene.
However, this week’s violence is more serious and more widespread.
The Druze community in Israel has made passionate appeals to Tel Aviv to intervene and save Druzes in Syria from what they termed as a “massacre in the making.”
“Israel cannot remain a bystander to what is happening right now in Syria,” Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, has said.
On May 1, Druze protesters in Israel blocked several highways and also protested outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea.
The protesters were demanding that the Israeli government take some decisive action to support the beleaguered Druze community in Damascus.
According to Ynet, an Israeli news outlet, a large number of protesters were IDF reservists.
“There is a historic covenant between the Jews and the Druze, and just as we stood up to fight for the State and die if necessary, at every opportunity and in particular in the face of the horrors of October 7, we must stand up and stop the current atrocities in Syria that are directed at our brothers,” one IDF reservist told Ynet.
The increasing sectarian violence in Syria against the Druze has reignited fears that the new ruling regime in Syria, having its roots in militant/extremist religious ideology, will not abate the violence against the country’s many ethnic and religious minorities.
The current Syrian regime is led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which has had affiliations in the past with the Sunni Muslim extremist al-Qaida group and is viewed by the minorities with suspicion.
There are reports that local mosques in the Damascus area are asking residents to arm themselves and mobilize towards the Druze-dominated localities.
Druze in Syria are already claiming that they are facing a “genocidal campaign,” and are appealing to international forces to “maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes.”
“This collective killing is systematic, clear, visible, and documented,” Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri said. “We no longer trust a group that calls itself a government, because the government doesn’t kill its own people through extremist gangs that are loyal to it, and after the massacre claims they are loose forces.”
Druzes: A Unique Ethno-Religious Community In West Asia
Druzes are an Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern community. Spread over Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, there are more than one million Druzes in the Middle East; however, they are a minority in every country they live in.
Druze are a unique religious and ethnic group. Their tradition dates back to the 11th century and incorporates elements of Islam, Hinduism, and even classical Greek philosophy. It began as an offshoot of Shiite Islam; however, their unique and eclectic religious practices also have marked influences from Vedic Hinduism, such as reincarnation and transmigration of the soul.
There are approximately 140,000 Druzes in Israel, making up around 2 percent of the country’s population. Many of the Israeli Druzes serve in the IDF, making them an influential minority in the country’s politics.
According to a 2016 Pew Research Centre survey, nearly 60 percent of Israeli Druze (male) have served or are currently serving in the IDF.
However, the largest number of Druze live in Syria, where they number more than 700,000. An overwhelming majority of these Druze are concentrated in the Jabal al-Druze area, a rugged and mountainous region in the country’s southwest. However, some suburbs of Damascus also have significant Druze concentrations.
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria in December 2024, Israel has been presenting itself as a defender of the Druze community’s interests in Syria. However, critics argue that Israel is expanding its influence in Syria under the pretext of protecting the Druze minority.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
