For the second day, Israel has conducted strikes on a Syrian city, vowing to protect the Druze minority. The Druze minority is an ethnoreligious group with origins tracing back to a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. 

Israel Threatens New Syrian Regime Forces With Fire

The upsurge in violence underlines the challenges facing interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has struggled to assert control over the area near the Israeli border since toppling Bashar al-Assad in December.

According to a report by Reuters, Israel, which has struck Syria several times in the name of protecting the Druze, carried out its latest attacks after influential Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri issued a statement accusing government troops of breaching a ceasefire and urging fighters to confront what he described as a “barbaric” attack.

While Sharaa has been buoyed by rapidly improving ties with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the violence has highlighted lingering sectarian tensions and distrust among minority groups towards his Islamist-led government – distrust that was deepened by mass killings of Alawites in March. –Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered Israel’s military to strike “regime forces” and some weaponry brought to Sweida to be used against the Druze.

Religious leaders of the Druze said in a written statement on Tuesday morning that it would allow Syrian forces to enter Sweida city in order to stop the bloodshed. They also called on armed groups to surrender their weapons and cooperate with the incoming troops, but an hour later, al-Hajri, a vocal opponent of the new Syrian leadership, said the statement had been “imposed” on them by Damascus. He added that Syrian troops had breached the ceasefire agreement by continuing to fire on residents of the slave class.

“We are being subject to a total war of extermination,” al-Hajri said in a recorded video statement. He also called on all Druze “to confront this barbaric campaign with all means available”.

The world at large seems to be experiencing a massive amount of war and the rhetoric that comes along with it. How far will this descend? Start the discussion in the comments! We love hearing your thoughts.