Who are the Druze, and why are they at the heart of Syria-Israel tensions?
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 the Islamist-led government this week.
Who are the Druze?
The Druze are Arabs who follow a religion derived from a branch of Islam. They maintain a degree of secrecy about the practice of their faith that emerged in the 11th century and incorporates elements from Islam and other philosophies, emphasising monotheism, reincarnation and the pursuit of truth. Some hardline Sunni Muslims deem them heretics. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, an Islamist who once belonged to al Qaeda, called them part of the Syrian fabric and vowed to protect their rights in a speech on Thursday.
Where do they live?
Syria's Druze are concentrated in the southwest in the Sweida region bordering Jordan and in areas of Quneitra province, near the occupied Golan. They also reside in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana. In Israel, Druze reside primarily in the north and the occupied Golan. In Lebanon, they are concentrated in mountain regions, including Chouf and Aley, and others such as Hasbaya in south Lebanon.
How do they fit into regional politics?
Though a small minority, the Druze have often played an outsized role in the politics of countries where they live.
In Israel, the Druze number 150,000. Unlike Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, many Druze Arabs serve in the Israeli military and police, including during the war in Gaza, and some have reached a high rank, meaning their voices cannot be easily ignored by Israel's political leadership.
While most Druze in Israel identify as Israeli citizens, more than 20,000 living in the occupied Golan still identify as Syrians and have close ties to family on the other side of the border.
Facing calls from Israeli Druze to help Syrian Druze, Israeli leaders have cited protecting them as a reason for attacking Syria repeatedly this year.
Syria's Druze population is estimated to number around 1 million people. They held some protests against Bashar al-Assad after the eruption of the war in 2011 but there was little conflict between them and Damascus as it focused on trying to crush the uprising in Sunni-majority areas.
Since Assad was toppled in December, friction with the Islamist-led authorities has ignited fighting several times.
While some Druze leaders have urged accommodation with Damascus, others have come out strongly against Sharaa, notably Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, who urged resistance to government forces and appealed to world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during this week's violence.
Some Druze figures have criticised this approach.
Lebanon's Walid Jumblatt, one of region's most prominent Druze politicians, has rejected the notion that Israel is protecting Syria's Druze. He has warned against calls for international protection and called for Syrian national unity.
What is driving Israel's intervention?
Israel bombed Syria frequently when Assad was in power, seeking to roll back the influence established by Iran and Iran-backed groups that deployed there to help him fight rebels.
Israel has painted the new Syrian government as a jihadist threat, saying it won't allow it to deploy forces into southern Syria. Israel has said it wants to avoid any hostile build-up at its border, whilst also vowing to protect the Druze minority.
Israeli troops have also seized Syrian territory adjoining the occupied Golan Heights since December.
Sharaa on Thursday said Israel was promoting division among Syrians, accusing it 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".
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France 24
12 hours ago
- France 24
Syrians protest Sweida killings in London, Paris
In central London, around 80 protesters chanted "God protect Druze" and "Stop supporting Jolani", referring to Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's nom de guerre, which he had abandoned after his Islamist group seized Damascus late last year. Demonstrators in the British capital held up placards calling for an end to the deadly violence in Sweida and for a humanitarian corridor to be opened up via the Jordanian border. More than 900 people have been killed in the Druze-majority province since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. The sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslim, have drawn in the Islamist-led government as well as Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. In London, protest organiser Emad al Eismy told AFP atrocities were still going on in Sweida. "Shootings, beheadings, raping, killing children, (torching) shops, homes. It's a barbarian movement going on in Sweida," he said at the protest outside BBC headquarters. -'Like ethnic cleansing' - AFP correspondents in Sweida reported clashes on Saturday, despite a ceasefire ordered by the government following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention. The Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor, said armed volunteers had been deployed with the support of the Islamist-led government. Druze fighters said those who had arrived to support the Bedouin were mostly Islamists. Protester Maan Radwan, who has family in Sweida, fought back tears as he said some of his relatives had died in a massacre at their guesthouse. He reproached British Foreign Secretary David Lammy for his visit to Syria earlier this month, when he met al-Sharaa. The United Nations has called for an end to the bloodshed and demanded an independent investigation of the violence. William Salha, like most of the protesters, also has family members still living in Sweida. He said they were "helpless", shut in their homes, attempting to keep themselves safe. "It's like ethnic cleansing. They want the city without its people," he said, accusing the Syrian government of complicity. A teenager from south London at the protest with his mother said multiple members of his father's family had been gunned down and killed, with the news filtering out through an aunt. "The armed groups came to them, they tried to resist and they shot them," he said. 'Where is France?' At the Paris protest, Aida Haladi wore black and clutched a picture of her 52-year-old brother whom she said was killed in front of his home Thursday morning in Sweida city. She said he had stepped out to grab some blood pressure medication he had forgotten. "He was an honest man. He never tried to hurt a soul," she said. "Where is France?" Haladi said, accusing Syria's interim president of complicity and angry at France's leader Emmanuel Macron for having hosted him in Paris in May. Hours later, France urged all sides to "strictly adhere" to the ceasefire. Eva Radwan, a 41-year-old PhD student, held up a picture of her 34-year-old cousin and his two nephews, aged 13 and 16, who she said had been shot dead inside their home. She said her parents had been forced to move houses after their neighbourhood was bombarded earlier this week. "Jolani get out, Syria is not yours," she shouted into a megaphone in front of the Eiffel Tower, leading around 20 other protesters. She also called for Jordan to open its border to let in aid. The Observatory said at least 940 people had been killed since Sunday, including 326 Druze fighters and 262 Druze civilians, 165 of whom were summarily executed.
Euronews
14 hours ago
- Euronews
Syria's leader urges Bedouin tribes to commit to ceasefire
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa urged Bedouin tribes to "fully commit" to a ceasefire aimed at ending clashes with Druze militias. The ceasefire was agreed on by Syria and Israel, and was announced earlier on Saturday by US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack. It comes after Israeli forces carried out several attacks against Syria, including in the capital, Damascus, in what it called 'military interventions' to protect the Druze minority. It also comes on the heels of renewed clashes between Druze armed groups and Bedouin clans, in what Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa warned he'll send troops back in to quell the fighting that has so far displaced tens of thousands of people. Barrack announced the truce in a post on X, formerly Twitter, noting that the US-led peace initiative is supported by multiple countries in the region. 'Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa supported by the USA, [State Secretary Marco] Rubio have agreed to a ceasefire embraced by Türkiye, Jordan and its neighbours,' wrote Barrack. Though he did no disclose any details of the arrangement, Barrack called on all parties to disengage and seek peace. 'We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours.' Clashes began on Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Syria's southern Sweida province. Government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins' side against the Druze. Israel intervened in defence of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defence Ministry headquarters in central Damascus. The Druze form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military. The week-long fighting has killed hundreds of people. Some locals speaking to media outlets say Syrian government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians, looted their homes and burned them down in the wake of the clashes. On Wednesday, al-Sharaa's government reached a truce with Druze groups, mediate by Washington, Turkey and other Arab countries, and began withdrawing their troops from the Sweida province. Druze groups were tasked, according to the details of the deal revealed by the Syrian interim president on Thursday, to oversee internal security as government forces pulled out. By late Thursday however, clashes were flaring up again between Bedouin and Druze groups. State media reported that Druze militias had carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a new wave of displacements. The governor of the neighbouring Daraa province said in a statement that more than 1,000 families were displaced to his province as a result of 'attacks on Bedouin tribes by outlaw groups'. Al-Sharaa said special forces will be deployed to Sweida to 'break up clashes and resolve the conflict on the ground'. The UN estimated that some 80,000 people were displaced since clashes erupted on Sunday. It also added that essential services, including water and electricity had collapsed in Sweida, as well as major disruptions to telecom and health facilities.
France 24
16 hours ago
- France 24
Clashes, homes torched in south Syria's Sweida despite ceasefire
Just hours earlier, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had announced an immediate ceasefire, but Bedouins and tribal fighters who are allied with the Syrian authorities pushed on in the west of the Druze-majority city. "Go forward, tribes!" said fighter Abu Jassem, addressing fellow combatants in the area, where the streets were largely deserted. "We will slaughter them in their homes," he said, referring to the Druze. The tribal fighters have converged on Sweida from other parts of Syria to support the Bedouins who have been clashing with Druze fighters since July 13. The violence has killed at least 940 people, according to a monitor. An AFP correspondent on Saturday saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them. Some fighters, their faces covered, opened fire in the streets with automatic weapons while others moved around on vehicles and motorbikes. One fighter wore a black band around his head that bore the Islamic profession of faith. Another was carrying scissors, after footage in recent days showed fighters cutting the moustaches of Druze elderly and clergy, a grave insult to members of the minority community. The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are regarded at best with suspicion by more hard-line Sunni Islamists who count among the ranks of Syria's new authorities. 'Nothing left' In Sweida city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water. Food supplies are scarce despite repeated appeals for humanitarian assistance, and communications have largely been cut off. Near the city's main hospital, an AFP photographer said bloated bodies were being taken for burial in a nearby pit as the morgue was overflowing. A doctor had told AFP that the facility had received more than 400 bodies. Security forces on Saturday were deploying in the province with the stated aim of protecting civilians and ending the chaos. Near a village north of Sweida, an AFP correspondent saw government forces deploying at a checkpoint and seeking in vain to prevent armed tribal fighters from advancing. Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told AFP in the province's north that security forces were deploying "to protect public and private property and guarantee the security of civilians". Government forces were to "supervise the withdrawal of the tribes that were in battle with outlaw groups," he added, referring to Druze fighters. An AFP correspondent said some tribal fighters withdrew from the city on Saturday afternoon, and also reported armed men dragging bodies from a street. According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced at least 87,000 people. One resident of the city who fled days earlier told AFP that "We have nothing left." "Most of the people we know -- our relatives and friends -- are dead," said the resident, requesting anonymity due to the security situation. "Sweida has been destroyed, and we are trying to keep our families away until this madness ends." strs-lar/lg/ami © 2025 AFP
