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17-07-2025
JERUSALEM/ DAMASCUS: Israel has vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.
Syrian government troops were dispatched to the Sweida region on Monday to quell fighting between Druze fighters and Bedouin armed men but ended up clashing with the Druze militias themselves.
Druze in Israel have been calling on the Israeli military to protect Druze in Syria.
A Druze spiritual leader said on Tuesday his community was being subjected to a barbaric attack by government forces. The government says outlawed gangs are responsible for the violence.
Israel, which bombed Syria regularly when it was ruled by ousted President Bashar al-Assad, has demanded the new Islamist authorities keep forces out of southern Syria.
It has vowed to protect the Druze and has sent Israeli troops into Syrian territory adjoining the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The official also said Israel will not allow a military build-up on its border with southern Syria or a massacre of Druze in Syria.
Israel hit the entrance to military headquarters in Damascus to send a clear message, the official added.
Scores of Israeli Druze broke through a barrier along the border fence, penetrated through the border gate and linked up with Syrian Druze on the Syrian side of the border, after local calls to help Druze in Syria after a surge in violence in the neighboring country, a witness said.
Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media; “my brothers, the Druze citizens of Israel, the situation in Sweida, the situation in southwestern Syria, is very serious. The IDF is operating, the Air Force is operating; other forces are operating. We are acting to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the regime’s gangs.
And now I have one request from you; you are citizens of Israel. Do not cross the border.
You are endangering your lives; you could be killed, you could be kidnapped, and you are harming the IDF’s efforts. Therefore, I ask you, return to your homes; let the IDF act.
The Druze are an Arab minority who practice a religion originally derived from Islam. They live in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, holding a distinctive position in the region’s mosaic of faiths and cultures.
In Syria, they are mostly based in the southern province of Sweida, although other communities live around Damascus and in northern Syria.
The Druze have a close-knit identity and distinctive monotheistic faith that emerged in the 11th century and incorporates elements from Islam and other philosophies, emphasizing monotheism, reincarnation and the pursuit of truth.
They maintain a degree of secrecy around their religious practice.
Israel has a small Druze community and some Druze also live in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day war.
Turkey says Israeli strikes on Damascus aim to sabotage peace
Israeli air strikes on Damascus, targeting the Syrian military headquarters, defence ministry, and areas around it, aim to sabotage Syria’s efforts to establish peace and security, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry said Syria had a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate into the world after the toppling Bashar al-Assad, the former president, in December. (Int’l News Desk)
