[News] Syrian Bloodshed in Sweida and Israel’s Insidious Agenda

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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Syrian Bloodshed in Sweida and Israel’s Insidious AgendaJuly 17, 2025
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Druze people raising an Israeli flag atop a building in Sweida, southern
Syria. (Photo: video grab)

*By Robert Inlakesh
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh>*

Back in 2013, Israel began working on a project to expand its so-called
“buffer zone” deep into southern Syria and for it to eventually seize more
territory in the illegally occupied Golan Heights.

The invasion of the Druze majority city of Sweida, by forces aligned with
the Syrian government, opened the stage for further Israeli land-grabs in
the south of the country and all at the expense of Syria’s civilian
population. Yet, the dangerous escalation could also breed new
opportunities in the long run.

While some may find the ongoing bloodshed in southern Syria confusing, it
is rather simple to understand when the events transpiring are put into the
proper context and the sectarian talking points are exposed for what they
are.

Taking advantage of a bloodbath in southern Syria, Israel has swept in to
pursue its own expansionist agenda in the region, launching airstrikes that
have killed both Syrian security forces and civilians alike. Meanwhile, the
debate rages on over who is truly fighting who and for what reasons.
*How Did This Start?*

The internecine conflict began earlier this week, after a group of Bedouin
Arab militants kidnapped a Druze trader who was travelling on the road to
Damascus, on July 11.

These groups also reportedly carried out an armed assault against Druze
forces at a checkpoint in the Sweida province. The incident led to an armed
response from Druze militia forces, followed by a string of kidnappings
committed by Bedouin fighters.

By Sunday, this had escalated into gun battles in the streets between Druze
and Bedouin militias. In response to this, groups of soldiers belonging to
the government in Damascus were sent south, claiming to be acting under
orders to de-escalate tensions and negotiate a truce.

Instead, the local Druze population reported that the Syrian Army was
siding with the Bedouin militiamen. The next event to be reported were
clashes between Druze militias and the Syrian government forces.

Suddenly there then came a larger mobilization of tribal forces, alongside
al-Qaeda linked fighters that decided to join in the battle against the
Druze minority groups armed forces. Videos began emerging, from eastern
Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, of militants wielding arms and jumping on pick
up trucks, heading towards Sweida.

Footage was also published of the capture of an elderly Druze man, who was
blindfolded and subjected to sectarian insults by militants sporting Daesh
patches on their uniforms.

Next, came a larger mobilization of Syrian government forces from Damascus,
which the authorities claimed was geared towards safeguarding civilians and
de-escalating tensions. Yet, it soon became clear that they were acting on
orders to capture the City of Sweida and defeat the Druze Military Council
militia that had entered the fight.

It wasn’t long before horror stories began emerging of sectarian violence
impacting Druze civilians. Although many claims have not been verified,
evidence was produced that confirmed the murder of civilians, including
women and children.

Many of these reports do appear to match the kinds of field executions that
took place a few months ago against the Alawite minority sect in Syria’s
coastal regime, where thousands of civilians were murdered by Syrian
government-aligned militants.

At the same time, the narrative adopted by local Syrian media aligned with
the government in Damascus claims that Druze separatists started the fight,
both with the Syrian Armed Forces and Bedouin clans. While it is unclear
who started the violence between the army and Druze forces, it is clear
that Bedouin militiamen were the first to initiate the conflict.

There are indeed groups of Druze separatists, some of whom are aligned with
Israel. However, the majority of the Syrian Druze population along with
their leadership are opposed to the Israelis, favoring an agreement with
the government in Damascus instead of operating under the offered
“protection” of the Israeli military.

One of the most divisive figures in the Druze spiritual leadership is
Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who has been making demands of the Syrian
leadership that some have claimed are aimed at granting sectarian
concessions, although this is a disputed interpretation. Most of the Druze
leaders in Syria have repeatedly sought to strike deals with Syria’s
government that is led by Ahmed al-Shara’a.

Then there are local armed groups from whom separatist sentiments are
expressed, normally these militants fall under the banner of what is known
as the Karama groups.

*How Israel has Used The Bloodshed to Its Favor*

Soon after the Syrian Army and its allied militia forces – who travelled
from places like Idlib, Damascus and Homs to fight – reached the outskirts
of the city of Sweida, Israel began launching airstrikes against their
positions.

According to Axios News, the authorities in Damascus had even coordinated
the movement of their tanks towards Sweida with Israel, as a precautionary
measure to demonstrate they would not pose a threat to the Israelis. The
Israeli military decided to strike the Syrian Army forces anyway.

Eventually the Israeli bombing campaign in southern Syria escalated and
over 100 airstrikes were committed within 24 hours, leading up to the
dramatic bombardment of the Syrian ministry of defence building in
Damascus. Initial reports estimated that at least 700 Syrian government
aligned fighters were wiped out by Israel’s airstrikes.

In order to make sense of what is currently transpiring, it is essential to
understand that although there is technically a government in Damascus, it
does not have much control over the country at all. Instead, local militias
control areas throughout Syria and hold more power than the government’s
security forces in many cases.

Also, when we look at the new Syrian Army, it is more akin to a collection
of militias than a regular military, as the Syrian Arab Army under the
previous government was dismantled. This army doesn’t have access to many
long range missile systems, it possesses no aircraft, no navy and has very
limited experience.

Therefore, the Syrian Army relies upon its allied militant groups who are
composed of often hardline sectarian fighters who adhere to an al-Qaeda
type mentality. Many of these groups openly brandish Daesh flags and sport
Al-Qaeda emblems. They are, honestly put, extremist sectarian death squads
that often openly advocate for the slaughter of Shia’s, Christians,
Alawites, Kurds, Druze and other Sunnis who do not adhere to their Salafist
ideology.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is the Party of Ahmed al-Shara’a, is cut
from the same exact cloth itself. HTS has long been a Takfiri group, which
means that it believes in its power to determine that fellow Muslims and
minority religious groups who don’t follow their interpretation of Islam,
are disbelievers who should be killed or forced to “repent”.

Why this is all relevant, is because viewing the ongoing tensions in
southern Syria as the “government” against “the Druze” is totally
inaccurate. And this is where Israel comes in.

Back in 2013, Israel began working on a project to expand its so-called
“buffer zone” deep into southern Syria and for it to eventually seize more
territory in the illegally occupied Golan Heights, which it formally
annexed in 1981.

In order to do this, the Israelis drew up a number of plans, with the help
of both Jordan and the United States. One major issue on Israel’s agenda
was to back Druze separatists to carve out a pro-Israeli Druze ethno-State
in southern Syria.

Also in 2013, Tel Aviv began backing some dozen Syrian opposition groups in
south Syria, most of whom were tied to al-Qaeda, Daesh or both. One of
those groups was Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch that was
actively fighting alongside Daesh at the time, before falling out with the
extremist group later.

Jabhat al-Nusra would later be rebranded as HTS, but back during the days
when it was receiving Israel medical, financial and military support, it
was also busy committing sectarian massacres against the Druze in Syria.

For Israel it was a simple formula, back the strongest groups fighting the
Syrian State and those who were killing minorities, thus dividing the
Syrian population, then also make inroads with the persecuted minority
groups to use them against their own countrymen too.

On top of Israel’s agenda to annex more territory from Syria under the
banner of its “Greater Israel Project”, it is also launching airstrikes
against Syrian government forces and their allies for two other reasons.
The first is to ensure Syria remains militarily divided and crippled, while
the second is to appease the Israeli Druze population.

It was reported on Wednesday that over 1,000 Israeli Druze had crossed into
Syria, on their own, in order to fight for the Syrian Druze population in
Sweida. For Israel’s Druze population, this issue is non-negotiable, they
demand the Israeli military’s intervention.

Although the Druze minority in occupied Palestine are technically second
class citizens, they still serve in the Israeli military and hold key
positions within it. So for Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
when he sees that Israeli Druze are burning tires in the streets and
protesting in favour of intervention, he understands that action should be
taken in order to avoid turmoil within Israel itself.

This is where things could potentially backfire for Tel Aviv, because if
they end up getting bogged down in Syria at some point, it may cause a
major military strain. However, so far the Syrian government has allowed
Israel to steal its territory, occupy its villages, kill hundreds of
fighters and civilians, while destroying its strategic military arsenal.

The Syrian leadership decided it would hand over its national sovereignty
in exchange for becoming a puppet regime of the US, UK, EU and to some
extent Turkiye also. It has cracked down on the Palestinian resistance
inside the country, blocked weapons flowing to Hezbollah in Lebanon and
branded the Iranian led Axis of Resistance as its only enemy.

It is important to understand that the Syrian leadership decided to
exchange economic relief for all of its national pride and sovereignty,
setting up an equation where it is forced to follow the dictates of its
Western allies, all of which place Israel as their regional priority.
Therefore, everytime that Ahmed al-Shara’a steps slightly out of line, his
men are killed and Damascus is subjected to bombardment.

The HTS government established ties with Israel within three days of
capturing Damascus, since then it has worked on “security coordination” and
even participated in normalisation talks. Syria’s national media agency,
SANA, even opened up a Hebrew language webpage, and Israeli journalists are
invited to the nation’s capital. The body of an Israeli soldier captured in
1982, was handed over to Israel. The belongings of the infamous Israeli spy
Eli Cohen were also returned as a good will gesture.

In other words, up until this moment the Syrian State has bowed down to
Israel at every turn and accepted a slave to master relationship.
Truthfully, Damascus only has two options; full capitulation and the
relinquishing of its sovereignty, as it has been doing; or resistance that
will probably result in an Israeli decapitation strike on its leadership,
followed by war.

A war with Israel could be the only route to reviving Syria as a nation, it
will prove extremely costly. Ultimately, the Israelis are not in the
position to fight a long war with Syria, especially considering how drained
their military is and the multitude of fronts that they are currently
fighting on. Yet, this appears to be an extremely unlikely outcome.

The only reason why Ahmed al-Shara’a would decide to take retaliatory
action against Israel, is in the event that his own allied militant forces
become so enraged over his inaction against Tel Aviv’s unprovoked
aggression that they threaten his rule.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He
focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this
article to The Palestine Chronicle. *
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