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Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Who are the Druze, and why does Israel say it is striking Syria for their benefit?
Violence in Syria pitting the Islamist-led government against members of the Druze community has put a spotlight on the small but influential minority. Straddling Lebanon , Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Druze occupy a special niche in the region's complex politics. Israel has cited protecting the Druze as a reason for attacking forces from Syria's Islamist-led government. Who are the Druze? Syria is home to the largest Druze community in the world. They number about 700,000 and constitute about 3 per cent of the population. While they are scattered across the country, the majority live in the southern Syrian province of Sweida and Jabal al-Druze, the Druze Mountain. READ MORE Druze are also found in Lebanon (300,000), Jordan, Israel, Palestine and the Israeli-occupied and annexed Syrian Golan Heights where most of the 20,000 Druze retain Syrian nationality. Druze have played important roles in the independence movements in Syria and Lebanon and in politics after these states emerged from French rule. Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party, headed by Walid Jumblatt, remains a key player on the political scene. Druze have also emigrated to the US, UK and Latin America. International lawyer Amal Alamuddin, actor George Clooney's wife, is of Druze and Sunni background. What links do they have with Israel? About 150,000 live in Israel and the Israeli-occupied and annexed Golan Heights. Those who have lived in Israel since its founding in 1948 are citizens and many have served in the Israeli army and Knesset. Druze protested in 2018 when a law was adopted that defined Israel as the 'nation state' of the Jewish people despite the fact that Druze count for 1.6 per cent, and 21 per cent of Israelis are Palestinian Arabs. The Druze faith is a monotheistic non-Muslim offshoot of Shia Islam which emerged in the 11th century, believes in reincarnation and embraced aspects of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism. The faith is the third-largest in Syria. Druze are born into the faith. Conversion and apostasy are not allowed and marriage outside the faith is discouraged. What is the status of the Druze in Syria? Since the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad in December, the Druze have been divided over their approach to the Sunni fundamentalist government. Some factions have tried to negotiate a new relationship with Damascus, others resist merging their militias with the country's armed forces, while many reject the presence of Syrian security personnel and soldiers in Sweida. What's driving Israel's intervention? Israel has reached out to the Druze and the other Syrian minorities to act as their protector. However, after the imposition of the ceasefire in this week's violence, Syrian forces withdrew from Sweida, indicating that security is likely to be provided by Druze paramilitaries.
The Journal
8 hours ago
- The Journal
Almost 600 people dead in Syria as US refuses to back Israel over strikes
SYRIAN TROOPS HAVE pulled out of the southern province Druze heartland of Sweida on the orders of the Islamist-led government, following days of deadly clashes and strikes by Israel that killed nearly 600 people, according to a war monitor. The southern province has been gripped by deadly sectarian bloodshed since Sunday , with hundreds reportedly killed in clashes pitting Druze fighters against Sunni Bedouin tribes and the army and its allies. A US State Department spokesperson said that Washington 'did not support' the Israeli strikes on Syria – the country has been trying to establish fresh relations with the new Syrian government. The city of Sweida was desolate as of yesterday, AFP correspondents on the ground reported, with shops looted, homes burnt and bodies in the streets. 'What I saw of the city looked as if it had just emerged from a flood or a natural disaster,' Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, told AFP. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a televised speech that community leaders would resume control over security in Sweida 'based on the supreme national interest', after the deployment of government troops on Tuesday fuelled the intercommunal bloodshed and prompted Israeli military intervention. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 594 people had been killed in clashes in Sweida province since Sunday. The UN's humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that 'nearly 2,000 families have been displaced' by the violence across the province. Who are the Druze? The Druze community are an Arabic-speaking religious minority who primarily have communities in Syria, Lebanon and in the occupied Golan Heights. Israel, which views the Druze as a loyal minority who often serve in the military, claimed it's trying to protect the community from the new Syrian government in Damascus. While Israel has presented itself as a defender of the group, its actions have also been viewed as a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces away from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country's new leaders, with some advocating for integrating into the new system while others have remained suspicious of the authorities in Damascus and pushed for an autonomous Druze region. A map showing the border area between the Golan and Southern Syria. Israel had hammered government troops with air strikes during their brief deployment in Sweida and also struck targets in and around the capital Damascus, including the military headquarters, warning that its attacks would intensify until the government pulled back. Advertisement The Observatory reported that three people were killed in Damascus by the Israeli strikes. Syria's state-run news agency SANA later reported the first Israeli attack on the area since government forces withdrew, with strikes on the outskirts of Sweida. The Syrian presidency meanwhile accused Druze fighters in Sweida of violating the ceasefire that led to the withdrawal of government forces. In a statement, the presidency accused 'outlaw forces' of violating the agreement through 'horrific violence' against civilians. The presidency also warned against 'continued blatant Israeli interference in Syria's internal affairs, which only leads to further chaos and destruction and further complicates the regional situation'. US mediation The Syrian president also hit out at Israel's military intervention, saying that it would have pushed 'matters to a large-scale escalation, except for the effective intervention of American, Arab and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate'. The United States — a close ally of Israel that has been trying to reboot its relationship with Syria — said late Wednesday that an agreement had been reached to restore calm in the area, urging 'all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made'. A US State Department spokesperson said that Washington 'did not support (the) recent Israeli strikes'. Foreign ministers from 11 countries in the region, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, affirmed their support for the Syrian government in a joint statement released by the United Arab Emirates' foreign ministry on Thursday. They strongly condemned the Israeli attacks, describing them as a 'blatant violation of international law and a flagrant assault on Syria's sovereignty', the statement said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the ceasefire was a result of his country's 'powerful action'. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has presented itself as a defender of the group, although some analysts say that is a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces away from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Dozens of Druze gathered in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, hoping to catch a glimpse of relatives on the Syrian-held side who might try to cross the barbed-wire frontier. Qamar Abu Saleh, a 36-year-old educator, said that some people 'opened the fence and entered, and people from Syria also started crossing here'. 'It was like a dream, and we still can't believe it happened.' © Agence France-Presse
Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa says Israel is trying to fracture Syria with attacks
Overnight, the Islamist-led government's troops withdrew from the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, where scores of people have been killed in days of conflict pitting Druze fighters against government troops and Bedouin tribes. A military commander for the Bedouin said their fighters had launched a new offensive against Druze fighters in Sweida province, and that the truce only applied to government forces. The Bedouins, who have long-standing frictions with the Druze, were seeking to free detained colleagues, he told Reuters. A round of fighting between the Bedouins and Druze earlier this week prompted the government to send troops to Sweida to quell the fighting, but the violence grew until a ceasefire was declared. On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze. Israel has struck the country repeatedly this year, describing its new leaders as barely disguised jihadists and saying it will not allow them to deploy forces in areas of southern Syria near its border. Addressing Syrians yesterday, Mr al-Sharaa accused Israel of seeking to 'dismantle the unity of our people', saying it had 'consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime'. Mr al-Sharaa, who was commander of an Al-Qa'ida faction before cutting ties with the group in 2016, said protecting Druze citizens and their rights was 'our priority'. He also vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against 'our Druze people'. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarisation of a swathe of territory near the border, stretching from the Israel-occupied Golan Heights to Jabal Druze. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said late on Wednesday that the US had engaged all parties, and steps had been agreed to end 'this troubling and horrifying situation'. Mr al-Sharaa credited US, Arab and Turkish mediation for saving 'the region from an uncertain fate'. He faces challenges to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that fear Islamist rule.
