On Monday night, an Israeli flag was hoisted in southern Syria. That’s unusual, to say the least. Even though there was an uneasy, decades-long detente behind the scenes between the Assad regime, Syria’s former dictatorial government, and the Israeli government, the two nations mostly consider one another hostile.
Shortly after the Israeli flag was raised at a roundabout in the southern province of Sweida, home to much of Syria’s Druze minority, other locals took it down and burned it.
The flag raising-and-burning took place after another worrying incident over the weekend: A gunfight in Jaramana, a Druze-majority suburb of Damascus, between locals and the new Syrian security forces. But reports were confusing: Was the Druze community under attack from the new government or was this a non-political scrap?
“There were all kinds of rumors,” a local from Jaramana, who wanted to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the situation, told DW. “Some people say that the Druze men who were fighting the security forces, had a connection with Druze in Israel and were secretly funded by them to cause problems here.”
The Druze community is a small Middle Eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines. An estimated 150,000 Druze in Israel hold Israeli citizenship, regularly serve in the army and are considered fiercely loyal to the state of Israel. In Syria, around 700,000 Druze make up one of Syria’s largest minority communities and have pressed the new Syrian government to uphold minority rights.
“Others, including many from civil society organizations, blamed [Druze] religious authorities because they are playing this card [with Israel] so they can have more power within the new government,” the source continued.
On Sunday, responding to the gunfight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his army was prepared to defend Syria’s Druze minority from any danger posed by Syria’s new interim government. “If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us,” Netanyahu proclaimed.
That’s despite the fact that the interim government — currently led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the rebel militia that led the offensive that toppled the authoritarian Assad regime — has so far preached national unity. It says all Syria’s ethnic or religious minorities, like the country’s Kurds, Christians, Druze and Alawites, should be involved in running the country.
And although there are different factions and opinions within Syria’s Druze community, observers say the majority reject Israel’s “protection.”
Why is Israel “defending” the Druze?
Israel has long practiced what is known as its “periphery doctrine,” where it seeks out alliances with non-Muslim minorities, like the Druze, and countries around the region in order to bolster its own security, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, pointed out in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Syria’s around 25-million-strong population is widely varied, with multiple ethnicities and religions, some of which are still divided by years of dictatorship and civil war. Different foreign interests are promoting those divisions to further their own agendas, Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, told DW.
“We’ve seen the Russians pushing narratives against HTS, trying to ‘protect’ Christians over Christmas. We’ve seen the Iranians saying they’re the ‘protectors of the Shia’ in Syria and Israel is doing the same thing by saying we’re here to ‘defend’ the Druze,” the analyst argued.
The last thing Israel wants is, “an inclusive government in Syria that can potentially stabilize the country to an extent that they would have the capabilities to fight back against Israel,” Krieg argues.
Israeli invasion?
Experts say the divisive statements about defending minorities also tie into the other part of Israeli strategy in Syria, which involves troops on the ground.
Since early December when the Assad regime was ousted, Israel has launched regular aerial attacks on Syria. According to monitoring group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, or ACLED, Israel conducted more airstrikes on Syria in December 2024, after the fall of the Assad regime, than during all of 2023 and “destroyed between 70% and 80% of the former regime’s strategic military capabilities within the first 48 hours,” ACLED researchers wrote.
This week, Israel conducted more airstrikes on what it says were Syrian military targets.
Israel has also moved troops into an UN-monitored buffer zone set up between the two countries, to ensure that both kept to a 1974 disengagement treaty. Israel said this was necessary in order to guarantee security while there wasn’t a real Syrian government. But since then Israeli officials have said troops will remain there more permanently.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF, charged with monitoring the buffer zone, expressed concern. “Since 07 December, UNDOF has observed a significant increase in Israel Defense Forces movements within the area of separation and along the ceasefire line,” their statement said. “UNDOF has informed its Israeli counterparts that these actions constitute a violation.”
Satellite images from January analyzed by the BBC and Al Jazeera have confirmed a more permanent Israeli presence in Syria. And statements from locals in those areas gathered by media outlet Syria Direct suggest the Israeli army is taking control of territory there. New roads and buildings have been constructed, farmers have been prevented from tending to their farms, olive trees, houses and water pumps have been destroyed and locals detained by Israeli forces.
As the situation deteriorates, villagers told Syria Direct the Israeli army offered to provide them water, food, power and even jobs in the occupied Golan Heights.
Against international law
Giving a speech on Sunday, Israel’s Netanyahu went even further, demanding “the complete demilitarization of southern Syria.”
“Israel has severely infringed international law and not just by capturing Syrian land and illegally holding it,” explains London-based expert Krieg, “but also by using military force inside of Syria against targets that do not directly pose a threat to Israel at this point.
This may have positive short-term results but won’t lead to long-term security, the military strategist told DW. “Israel sees itself as still surrounded by enemies,” Krieg explained. “In their minds, since 1948 when Israel was created, they’ve been fighting a war against all their neighbors. So there is no trust … [and] instead of engaging with [Syria’s] new leadership, Israel is again betting on confrontation.”
In similar situations in neighboring countries, confrontation eventually led to the formation of resistance groups who then further endangered Israel, Krieg pointed out.
The first reports have already emerged of one small group in southern Syria, calling itself “The Islamic Resistance Front in Syria – Great Might” that wants to fight Israeli soldiers currently in their country.
Syria’s Druze minority calls for rights and protection
Edited by: Jess Smee