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Israel Attacks Syria Following Religious Persecution Of Druze

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by blueapples
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2025 - 12:00

Following formal recognition by the US of the HTS-led government which overthrew Bashar Al-Assad in December, Washington called on Israel to normalize its relations with the new Syrian regime. Although officials from Damascus and Tel Aviv appeared receptive to that new chapter in their histories, peace between the countries has remained elusive. Escalating conflict among Druze and Bedouin militias in Southwestern Syria now threatens to further disrupt any normalization as Israel has declared its intent to protect another religious minority being persecuted by the radical Islamist regime of Syrian President al-Sharaa, leading to increased hostilities between the 2 countries.

The overthrow of the Assad government has only led to more chaos in Syria.

Although the esoteric religious minority of the Druze originated from the Isma'ilist movement which branched off from Shia Islam, the enigmatic Abrahamic faith adheres to syncretic practices drawing from other belief systems across a wide spectrum of religions and philosophies ranging from Gnosticism to Zoroastrianism and Neoplatonism to Pythagoreanism. Its unique religious tenets make it viewed as transgressive by the radical Islamic beliefs of the al-Sharaa regime. However, Israel views the religion with a much more tolerant outlook as adherents to the faith have been assimilated into Israeli society, so much so that the Druze are the only non-Jewish religious group required to serve in the IDF. This relationship was cemented during the Arab-Israeli War in 1948 when Druze communities volunteered to serve in the Israeli army. That longstanding relationship has compelled Israel to come to the Druze's defense as it has become increasingly persecuted in Syria.

The Suwayda Governate in Southern Syria, home to the largest concentration of Druze in the country, has became the focal point of the conflict. The outbreak of clashes between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters occurred in the city of Suweida, the largest Druze community in Syria with approximately 700,000 members of the religion. Syrian security forces were deployed to the region in the wake of the violence in support of Bedouin fighters. The conflict has led to the deaths of nearly 100 thus far. According to  the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 99 have died, including 2 children, 2 women and 14 members of the Syrian government security forces.

Syria's Interior Ministry contrasted those reports with an assessment of its own that has confirmed over 30 deaths and injuries no nearly 100 others. “Some clashes occurred with outlawed armed groups, but our forces are doing their best to prevent any civilian casualties,” Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba told state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV. Rhetoric from Syria's regime sounded as if it were designed to downplay underlying concerns about religious persecution that the new Syrian government has been guilty of since taking over in late 2024. “The real conflict is between the state and bandits and criminals, not between the state and any Syrian community,” a;-Baba said. “On the contrary, the state views the Druze community in Sweida as a partner in advancing the national unity project.”

The statement from Syria's Interior Ministry serves as an example of "the lady doth protest too much, methinks" as the conflict with the Druze is far from the only example of the Al-Sharaa government persecuting religious minorities in the country. For years, the government of Bashar al-Assad fought to protect the various religious minorities inhabiting Syria. Since he was deposed, those minority groups have come into the crosshairs of the new Syrian government, as evident from the series of massacres against Alawites (an ethnoreligious group Assad belonged to) across the country earlier in the year. Those massacres led to the deaths over an estimated 1,700 Alawites in March alone.

Christians in Syria have also been the target of the Al-Sharaa government's persecution of religious minorities in the country. Before the onset of the Syrian Civil War, Christians made up nearly 10% of Syria's population. That demographic has collapsed to less than 2%. Since 2011, the number of Christians in Syria has fallen from 1.5 million to fewer than 300,000.

In response to the Syrian government's intervention in support of the Bedouin tribal fighters, Israel unleashed a military response in defense of the Druze. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the IDF “attacked targets in Syria as a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime — we will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria.” Israel's latest incursion into Syria follows its invasion of the country on December 8th, 2024 in the wake of the fall of the Assad government. Israel opportunistically used the fall of the Assad government to void the Agreement on Disengagement it signed with Syria in 1974. The Israeli government initially declared that its invasion was a temporary measure in the face of the uncertainty brought by the new Syrian regime but soon changed its tenor by stating its military presence in the country would last for an indeterminate period.

Israel's invasion into Syria was first limited to taking control of hundreds of square miles of territory in Southwestern Syria adjacent to the disputed Golan Heights for what it declared as an attempt to establish a buffer zone. It has since expanded its attacks as far as Latakia and Damascus, where it has conducted several waves of airstrikes. While its latest military campaign has been justified as coming to the defense of the Druze, concerns over Israel's attempts to gain territory in Syria raise doubts over the truth motives behind its increased hostilities against the al-Sharaa regime.

Despite its increased military presence in Syria, Israel has responded positively to calls from US President Donald Trump for the 2 countries to normalize relations with each other by forging a deal based on his Abraham Accords. Trump met with Syrian President al-Sharaa in Riyadh on May 14th during his Middle East Summit. Following the meeting, Trump heaped praise on the leader of Syria's government despite his ties to ISIS, calling al-Sharaa a "young, attractive guy." with a "Stong past. Very strong past." concluding that he was a "fighter." The remarks were teeming with irony considering al-Sharaa earned his reputation as a fighter under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani when he led the anti-Assad al-Nusra front. The al-Nusra front was established in 2012 as an offshoot of ISIS. It eventually merged itself with other opposition forces to form Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which eventually succeeded in overthrowing Assad.

Since HTS takeover of Syria, the organization has been dissolved by assimilating itself into control of the new government armed forces. President Trump subsequently signed an executive order on June 30th which lifted sanctions on Syria and formally recognized its new government. That measure also included revoking the US State Department's designation of HTS as a foreign terrorist organization.

Following US normalization with the new Syrian regime, Israeli officials appeared poised to follow suit. In early July, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar remarked "Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords circle of peace and normalization. We have an interest in adding countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization - while safeguarding Israel's essential and security interests." Sa'ar qualified his remarks with a massive caveat, going on to say "Israel applied its law to the Golan Heights over 40 years ago. In any peace agreement - the Golan will remain part of the State of Israel." Although President Trump recognized Israel's claim to the territory in 2019 during his first administration, the Golan Heights is still disputed by Syria.

The onset of increased hostilities between Syria and Israel manifesting from the outbreak of violence against the Druze population in Syria in the Suwayda Governate adds to the dispute over the Golan Heights and other territorial issues arising since Israel's invasion as another impasse preventing normalization between the 2 countries. For decades, Israel viewed peace with Syria as an impossibility so long as the government of Bashar al-Assad remained in power, but despite Assad being deposed, the adversarial dynamic between Israel and Syria persists. While it welcomed the overthrow of the Assad government by HTS forces led by President al-Sharaa, the chaos that Syria has descended into since then has kept the prospect of peace unattainable. This remains the case despite the US effectively installing al-Sharaa at the behest of Israel, which called for the overthrow of Assad for decades, making Syria a quintessential example of the instability brought upon the Middle East under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Contributor posts published on Zero Hedge do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Zero Hedge, and are not selected, edited or screened by Zero Hedge editors.
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