Israel heightens military vigilance to shield Syrian Druze amid sectarian turmoil

JERUSALEM — Israeli forces on the Golan Heights have been put on high alert amid bloody sectarian clashes in Syria’s Druze communities. In a joint statement this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had carried out “a warning operation” against extremists poised to attack Druze villages, and sent “a message … to the Syrian regime” that “Israel expects it to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze”. Katz warned that Israel would respond “with significant force” if Syria’s new authorities failed to protect the minority. The show of force underscores Israel’s deep concern as clashes between Sunni militants and Druze fighters intensified south of Daramsuq (Damascus).

Rising Violence in Syria’s Druze Heartland

Deadly fighting erupted last week in Daramsuq’s southern suburbs and the neighboring Suwayda Province, home to Syria’s Druze minority. An incendiary audio recording falsely attributed to a prominent Druze cleric sparked mob attacks on Druze neighborhoods in Jaramana and Sahnaya, followed by reprisals from Druze self-defense units. Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri denounced the wave of attacks as a “genocidal campaign” against his community. Monitors say the clashes killed roughly a hundred people — including Druze fighters, allied militiamen, and civilians — in just a few days of fighting. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 101 people died in the sectarian gunbattles, and dozens of homes and vehicles were burned.

Druze civilians wounded in the violence have sought refuge. The Israeli military on Saturday reported that five injured Syrian Druze were evacuated across the border for treatment in Israeli hospitals. One Syriac Orthodox hospital worker said patients arrived “with bullet wounds, shrapnel injuries, even broken bones,” and were too afraid to go to Daramsuq for care. More are expected to follow. Israeli officials say about 15 Druze have been treated in Israel since the clashes began.

The Syrian Transitional Government (STG) has publicly distanced itself from the violence and rejected foreign interference. Information Minister Hamzah al-Mustafa wrote on social media that Syria “remains a homeland for all,” calling for national unity and “rejecting incitement”. STG president Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former militant who took power after Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December, has pledged to protect all minorities. But many Druze remain distrustful. They point to earlier massacres of Alawite communities in March in which some 1,700 people were killed as evidence that Syria’s new, Islamist-led government may not safeguard non-majorities. For now, thousands of armed Druze fighters in and around Jaramana and Suwayda have resisted government orders to disarm. One local official said his committee told Damascus, “As soon as there is a state capable of regulating its forces, we’ll have no problem handing in our weapons”, adding, “It’s our right to be scared, because we saw what happened in other areas”.

Israel’s Public Warnings and Military Moves

Facing reports of massacres of the Druze minority just over its border, Israel has shifted from passivity to action. Israeli military spokesmen announced that troops deployed near the Golan Heights were ready “to prevent the entry of hostile forces into the area of Druze villages”. Israeli tanks and infantry units were ordered to guard Syrian border crossings and reinforce outposts overlooking Druze heartlands. At the same time, the IDF carried out at least two strikes in southern Syria. On Wednesday, an Israeli drone blew up an armed extremist cell near Sahnaya that was believed to be preparing attacks on Druze settlements. Another wave of Israeli airstrikes hit positions near the Syrian presidential palace late Friday, a Syrian opposition source said, after what Damascus described as an unprecedented attack on government troops in the area.

Backed by these operations, Israel’s top leaders have made unusually overt statements of protection. In Jerusalem, PM Netanyahu and Minister Katz said in a joint press release that the military had launched “a warning operation and struck an extremist group” targeting Druze. They stressed that Israel had sent a clear message to Syrian authorities to safeguard Druze civilians. In its own statements, the IDF confirmed the deployment, saying its forces were “prepared to prevent hostile elements from entering Druze towns in southern Syria”. IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir later told officers that the army should be ready to “strike targets belonging to the Syrian regime should the violence against Druze communities continue”. On Thursday, Katz warned that Israel “will respond with significant force” if attacks on Druze villages are resumed.

Israeli Druze communities have applauded these moves. Druze reservists in the IDF sent letters to Netanyahu and Katz demanding action, and thousands of Israeli Druze protested on Thursday night demanding government intervention. These demonstrators blocked roads in northern Druze towns and even in Caesarea near Netanyahu’s home, saying their brethren in Syria were facing “elimination.” Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze, called for calm at home, but echoed the fear. “We’re sleeping standing up,” one Druze mayor told an Israeli newspaper. For Israel’s secular and Druze citizens alike, the fate of the Syrian Druze has become a cause célèbre, raising public expectations that their government will act vigorously.