Massacres, bombings and tensions
The new Syrian governemnt at crosshairs
On Friday, May 2nd, Israel escalated its attacks in Syria by bombing near the presidential palace in Damascus. This is an escalation of its attacks that began on December 8th, 2024, after the fall of the Assad regime. The airstrike is a warning against attacking the Druze minority. More than one hundred members of that sect were killed in the last days.
On Tuesday, April 29th, Sunni gunmen loyal to the new Syrian regime stormed Jaramana, a Druze area. More than twelve people were killed.
On Wednesday, April 30th, violence reached the mainly Druze city of Sahnaya, outside Damascus.
On Thursday, the clashes spread to the predominantly Druze province of Suweida. Later that day, Druze community leaders and Syrian government officials met in the province to defuse tensions. They concluded with a statement of Suweida’s residents agreeing to protect the province as part of Syria’s internal security forces. They also mentioned to reject “division, separation or secession”. Some Druze in Israel serving in the Israeli Defense Forces wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding help for the Syrian Druze, saying that “hundreds of fighter” were ready to volunteer to help.
Source: Guerras & Geopolítica
On Friday, the Israeli air force bombed near the presidential palace in Damascus. It also bombed the Hama countryside. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Nethanyahu; and Defense Minister, Israel Katz, warned against any attacks on the Druze community in Syria. Israel also deployed troops to southern Syria to prevent the return of new regime forces to Druze villages. It said it was ready for defense and “various scenarios”. Five Syrian Druze civilians were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel. Syrian security forces patrolled the village of al-Soura al-Kubra last Friday. Those bombings killed two civilians.
Source: Entre Guerras
On midnight Saturday, Israel carried another 15 raids, with eight of them hitting Damascus. The military confirmed the attacks the same day. It listed “a military site, anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria”. However, the same day was an uneasy calm. The government and the representatives of the Druze community reached a de-escalation agreement, which led to the deployment of troops in Sahnaya and a reinforcement on the outskirt of Jaramana, with one hundred and fifteen thousand inhabitants. The agreement included handing over heavy weaponry.
Source: Syrian Christians
Israel has escalated its attack since the fall of the Assad regime, bombing the country and sending troops to southwest Syria, as well as destroying heavy weaponry. The Israeli Defense Forces has also pressured the US to maintain a weakened Syria. Israel doesn’t want a heavily armed Syria on its border. Since then, Israel has promised to protect the Druze minority from any attack.
This is the second time in three days that Israel bombs Syria. The attacks against the Druze minority, triggered after an alleged audio insulting the Prophet Muhammad, lasted two days and left more than twenty people dead, leading to the attack. The airstrikes came after a Druze leader called for help for international intervention to put an end to an “unjustified genocidal campaign”. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, the most influential Druze leader in Syria, Israel has a small Druze community. Twenty-four thousand Druze also live in the Israeli occupied Golan heights. These were captured in 1967 and annexed them in 1981. This move has not been recognized by the international community, nor the UN. The interim Syrian President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has promised to govern in an inclusive way. He was a former al-Qaeda commander before breaking ties in 2016. Sectarian violence incidents, including the mass murder of hundreds of Alawites, have raised fears between minority groups about the ruling Islamists.
Israel has framed its attacks around suspicion against the current President, Ahmed al-Sharaa. His group was a former al-Qaeda branch. Israel has also mentioned it aims to protect the Druze minority, a Muslim minority that lives in Israel, Lebanon and Syria. The Druze have been vulnerable during political instability.
The attacks on the Druze community and the Israeli airstrikes have posed the latest challenge for al-Sharaa, who has vowed to unite Syria’s armed forces under one structure and to govern the country in an inclusive way.
Israel Katz later published a statement mentioning that when al-Sharaa “wakes up in the morning and sees the result of the Israeli airstrike, he will understand well that Israel is determined to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria”. Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, said that “Israel couldn’t abandon the Druze in Syria to their fate”, adding that “the Syrian regime must know they are our allies and we will not stand by while they are attacked”. Syria called it a “dangerous escalation”. The new Syrian Foreign Minister accused Israel of “not wanting peace”, adding that Israel “doesn’t care for the groups it purportedly protects by bombing others”. Damascus urged the international community and Arab countries to support Syria against “hostile aggressions that violate international laws”. Ahmed al-Sharaa urged the authorities to appoint local officials to official posts in Suweida. Qatar condemned the airstrike near the Presidential palace.
Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, condemned the airstrike. German Foreign Ministry stated that “Syria must not be converted in the scenario of regional tensions”.
More tensions between Israel and the new Syrian government are expected. The government’s ability to contain sectarian violence is at stake. However, more sectarian violence is expected, given the precedents.
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Israel bombed Syria after incidents of violence against the Druze community in Syria, which happened after a supposed insult against the Prophet Muhammad circulated there.
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