[News] How the US and Israel partnered with Syria’s new president to massacre the Druze

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 How the US and Israel partnered with Syria’s new president to massacre the
Druze

Through a calculated campaign of sectarian slaughter in Suwayda, Syria’s
new US and Israel-backed president advanced a broader strategy to drive the
Druze toward Israeli protection and fragment Syria’s territorial integrity.

The Cradle's Syria Correspondent
<https://thecradle.co/authors/the-cradles-syria-correspondent-113>

JUL 27, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/how-the-us-and-israel-partnered-with-syrias-new-president-to-massacre-the-druze
Photo Credit: The Cradle

As video after video of horrendous atrocities spreads on social media from
the governorate of Suwayda in Syria, evidence indicates that the Syrian
government’s sectarian slaughter of the Druze religious minority was
orchestrated by the US and Israel.

The massacres are part of a broader effort to force the Druze to seek
protection from Israel and thereby give the Jewish state a pretext to
further occupy Syria’s south, establish David’s Corridor
<https://thecradle.co/articles/davids-corridor-israels-shadow-project-to-redraw-the-levant>,
and keep the country weak and divided.

Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former ISIS commander long groomed
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/31177> by the US and UK to take power in
Damascus, proved a reliable agent in executing the plan.

*A campaign to crush the Druze*

The violence in Suwayda began
<https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/syria-clashes-druze-militias-sunni-bedouin-clans-dead-rcna218596>
on Sunday 13 July, when local Bedouins kidnapped a Druze fruit seller on
the road between Suwayda and Damascus. The situation quickly escalated with
clashes breaking out between Bedouin militias and armed Druze factions.

On Tuesday 15 July*, *Sharaa ordered
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/13/several-dead-in-clashes-in-predominantly-druze-syrian-city>
the Syrian army and internal security forces to deploy to the region, under
the pretext of halting the clashes and restoring security and civil peace.

However, rather than seek to stop the fighting, Sharaa’s forces joined
<https://x.com/SyJusticeArc/status/1946104985038606708> Bedouin armed
groups. Saying <https://x.com/joshua_landis/status/1944745675742224755>
that they “came to fight the Druze,” Syrian forces carried out the brutal
massacre of hundreds of Druze civilians, attacked Druze cultural symbols,
and systematically looted and burned Druze homes.

“On Tuesday morning, units from Syria’s Ministries of Defense and Interior
stormed into the city of Suwayda, citing efforts to halt an outbreak of
communal violence. Instead, what followed was a blood-soaked
escalation,” *Media
Line* reported
<https://themedialine.org/top-stories/as-suwayda-bleeds-again-field-executions-and-bloody-clashes-between-druze-and-bedouins-under-international-watch/>
.

“The violence worsened sharply after the arrival of government forces,”
journalists from *Reuters *similarly wrote
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bodies-looted-homes-syrias-druze-reeling-after-Suwayda-bloodshed-2025-07-17/>,
while citing Suwayda residents who said the killings were carried out by
Syrian troops, “identified by their fatigues and the insignia on them.”

Government supporters also acknowledged Sharaa’s security forces were sent
to participate in the slaughter, rather than end it.

Former Nusra Front leader, Saleh al-Hamwi, criticized Sharaa for claiming
his forces intervened to break up clashes between Druze “outlaw groups” and
the Bedouins.

“This is not true,” Hamwi wrote
<https://x.com/asseraaalsham/status/1946488684041101637> on X. “The
authority entered with its army and security forces as a party against the
militias of [Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri].”

*Sectarian massacres*

Thousands of reports, pictures, and videos have now circulated online
showing Druze civilians being executed, beheaded, kidnapped, and humiliated
by government and tribal fighters.

Videos and photos of government and tribal fighters humiliating captured
Druze men by shaving off
<https://x.com/HoshangHesen/status/1945248452260053386> their traditional
moustaches and murdering them soon gave way to even more shocking videos.
Syrian forces filmed themselves cutting off
<https://x.com/SyJusticeArc/status/1946860741652582464> the heads of corpses
<https://t.me/Syrdoc/4472> with knives, executing unarmed Druze men in the
street after demanding
<https://x.com/BrotherRasheed/status/1947113750386938246> to know their
religion, massacring entire families
<https://x.com/SyJusticeArc/status/1945788468883578922> in their homes
<https://x.com/Ostensiblay/status/1946601723860066417>, and abducting
<https://x.com/SyrDemObs/status/1946504292745069029> women to take as
slaves.

One man was strapped <https://x.com/SyJusticeArc/status/1946862130143322368>
to a chair and burned alive, while another man was killed along with his
family as he sat in his wheelchair at home.

A shocking video spread online
<https://x.com/ajaltamimi/status/1945104635682791896> of the corpses of 15
unarmed Druze in the guesthouse of the prominent Al-Radwan family.

Maan Radwan, whose relatives were killed in the shooting, told
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/18/its-impossible-to-tell-who-is-killing-us-four-days-of-violence-end-with-hundreds-dead-in-southern-syria>
the* Guardian*, “They were sitting there drinking coffee when gunmen came
in and just started shooting. There are no weapons allowed in the hall,
it’s not like it’s a military base.”

Video emerged showing dozens of bodies of Druze who had been massacred
<https://x.com/joshua_landis/status/1945555281825411328> in the National
Hospital in Suwayda city.

Palestinian journalist Wael Essam, who covered the 14-year war on
Syria for *Al-Quds
al-Arabi*, reported <https://x.com/WaelEssam77/status/1945666163637174523>
that, according to sources with the Syrian government, the massacre was
carried out by members of a government-linked faction, Ansar al-Tawhid
(Division 82), against wounded Druze militiamen and accompanying civilians.

*Israel ‘intervenes’*

Claiming to defend the Druze, Israel intervened dramatically on Wednesday
16 July by bombing government buildings in the heart of Damascus, including
the Ministry of Defense and near the Presidential Palace.

The first bomb hit its target during a live news broadcast filmed in a TV
studio overlooking Umayyad Square.

Israel also bombed Syrian tanks that were dispatched to Suwayda.

*Sharaa mobilizes the tribes*

Despite the Israeli intervention, some 500 Druze had been killed in Suwayda
city by the morning of Thursday, 17 July alone, most of them civilians
killed in their homes, *Al-Daraj* reported
<https://daraj.media/en/tribal-invasion-structure-mobilization-and-relationship-with-the-authorities-in-the-suwayda-attack/>
.

*Al-Daraj* notes that despite this, a media campaign was launched to claim
it was the Druze who were guilty of carrying out massacres. The campaign
included the spread of fabricated photos allegedly showing Druze atrocities
against local Bedouins.

Almost immediately, formal Syrian forces were joined in Suwayda by 7,000 to
10,000 Arab fighters from the Al-Oqaydat and Al-Nu’aim tribes, who traveled
over 700 miles from Deir Ezzor, allegedly to take revenge against the
Druze, even though these tribes had no relation to Arab tribes in Suwayda.

*Al-Daraj* reports tribal fighters traveled from areas in Deir Ezzor
controlled not only by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), but also by the
US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The fighters
easily passed through checkpoints controlled by both groups.

The mobilization was led by high-ranking members of the Syrian government
from each tribe, including Mohammed Al-Jassim “Abu Amsha,” a prominent
commander in the Ministry of Defense whose forces led the massacres of
Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast in March, Hussein Al-Salameh, the
Syrian Minister of Intelligence, and Youssef Al-Hajr, a prominent leader in
HTS.

“The pattern of tribal mobilization, the method of fighter movement, and
their rapid arrival through security and military checkpoints show that it
was not a spontaneous or retaliatory response, but part of a
well-thought-out alternative plan, implemented immediately after the
failure of the first attack on Suwayda,” *Al-Daraja* concluded.

While the SDF, an ally of the US and Israel, allowed the tribal fighters to
pass through their checkpoints, the Israeli air force took no action to
bomb their convoys as they traveled for hours across the open Syrian desert.

*The US and Israeli role*

Wael Essam also reported that the Syrian government's assault on Suwayda
was pre-planned.

Essam wrote <https://x.com/WaelEssam77/status/1945666163637174523> on
Thursday, 17 July, that “Government forces had been preparing to storm
Suwayda for a week, using the Bedouin story as a pretext.”

Citing sources within the Syrian government, Essam stated that Mukhtar
al-Turki and Abu al-Hassan al-Urduni were the commanders supervising
preparations for the attack, under the direct supervision of Sharaa.

Not only was the assault on Suwayda prepared in advance, but Sharaa and his
military commanders were encouraged to launch it by US officials.

“The security apparatus received false information from sources close to
the Americans that the Israelis would not intervene, no matter what
happened in Suwayda. The Ministry of Defense continued its advance,
contrary to the prior understanding with the Americans and Israelis,” Wael
Essam reported further.

Sharaa would not have launched the attack on Suwayda without permission
from the US and Israel because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had
previously vowed to defend the Druze in Suwayda and demanded that southern
Syria remain a “demilitarized zone.”

Additionally, Israel’s bombing of the Ministry of Defense near Umayyad
Square was coordinated with Turkish intelligence to ensure no important
Syrian military officials would be killed.

“Before bombing the General Staff headquarters, the Turks informed a number
of government officials of the need to leave their positions and evacuate
their families from Damascus,” Essam added.

*Sharaa receives a ‘green light’*

Two days later, additional details emerged indicating the US and Israel had
urged Sharaa to attack Suwayda.

“Damascus believed it had a green light from both the US and Israel to
dispatch its forces south despite months of Israeli warnings not to do so,”
*Reuters* reported
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-believed-it-had-green-light-us-israel-deploy-troops-sweida-2025-07-19/>
on 19 July.

“Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops
deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging
that Syria should be governed as a centralized state,” eight sources
familiar with the matter told *Reuters*.

*Reuters *explained further that the understanding was based on “public and
private” comments from US special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack, “as well
as on nascent security talks with Israel” in Baku, Azerbaijan.

It is highly unlikely, however, that Sharaa and his military staff
“misread” or “misunderstood” US and Israeli messaging so badly. As noted by
*Reuters,* Syrian and Israeli officials were in direct communication as
part of “nascent security talks” taking place in Azerbaijan.

The talks “produced an understanding over the deployment of troops to
southern Syria to bring Suwayda under government control,” *Reuters *added,
again indicating that preparations were underway to assault and take
control of Suwayda a week before the attack was launched, and that Druze
conflict with the Bedouins was only a pretext.

Additionally, Syrian authorities were coordinating directly with their
Israeli counterparts when they deployed tanks to Suwayda.

*Axios* reported
<https://www.axios.com/2025/07/16/israel-bomb-syria-trump-response> on
Wednesday, 16 July, that according to a US official, “Syria had notified
Israel in advance about the tanks and said its response was not directed at
Israel.”

Despite this clear coordination, the Israeli military bombed the tanks,
claiming in a statement that they entered a zone that Israel demanded be
demilitarized and that “Israel will not allow a massacre of Druze in Syria."

This explanation is unlikely, given the close coordination between both
sides and Sharaa’s clear insistence on not fighting occupying Israeli
troops.

*Israel gives another ‘green light’*

Two days later, on Friday 18 June, as terrified Druze continued to wait in
vain for Israel and the US to intervene and stop the slaughter, Israel
enabled additional massacres by announcing
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-syria-agree-ceasefire-israel-allows-syrian-troops-limited-access-sweida-2025-07-18/>
it would allow “limited entry” of Syrian forces into Suwayda for “48 hours.”

That night, Sharaa announced
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-syria-agree-ceasefire-israel-allows-syrian-troops-limited-access-sweida-2025-07-18/>
he would “deploy a force in the south dedicated to ending the clashes,”
*Reuters* wrote, repeating the lie that the Syrian president and former
ISIS commander was trying to stop the killing.

*Reuters* repeated the claim, even though it was widely understood,
including from *Reuters*’ own previous reporting, that the fighters from
the Ministry of Defense and Internal Security had been leading the
massacres.

The Israeli green light allowing Syrian government-affiliated forces to
once again enter Suwayda and begin the killing anew was revealed in the
same *Reuters* report.

The agency reports that its reporters observed a convoy of fighters from
Syria's General Security, who were stopped on a road in Deraa province,
“awaiting a final green light to enter Suwayda.”

“But thousands of Bedouin fighters were still pouring into Suwayda on
Friday, the *Reuters *reporters said, prompting fears among residents that
violence would continue unabated.”

*‘Tribal’ fighters?*

The next morning, Saturday 18 July, a new ceasefire was announced following
meetings between Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri and US, Syrian, and
Jordanian officials in Amman.

However, a Syrian journalist who visited several villages in Suwayda on
Sunday, 19 July, told *The Cradle* that Syrian security forces continued to
allow Arab tribal fighters and Bedouin looters to pass their checkpoints to
enter Druze villages and Suwayda city.

Some of the Arab tribal fighters with whom the journalist spoke boasted
that they were employed by the Ministry of Defense but were not wearing
their uniforms.

While fighting informally as part of tribal militias, they used weapons
distributed by the Ministry of Defense, including drones, heavy machine
guns, Grad missiles, and sniper rifles.

As videos online confirm
<https://x.com/SyJusticeArc/status/1947451401384431741>, he said many wore
ISIS patches, the journalist said, including one man from General Security
whom he managed to photograph. They expressed their admiration for the
terror organization’s former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the desire
to crush the Druze in the name of Islam.

*What does Israel want?*

Despite statements by Syrian, Israeli, and US officials claiming they
wished to protect the Druze, we are expected to believe that global powers
were somehow unable to stop Arab and Bedouin tribes from entering Suwayda
to continue the looting and killing.

In reality, Israel and the United States not only allowed the sectarian
slaughter in Suwayda to unfold, but directly orchestrated it in
coordination with Sharaa.

Because the massacres were so horrific, more and more Druze now believe
they have no choice but to turn to Israel, hoping the Jewish state will
protect them from the ISIS-linked forces ruling Damascus.

The more the Druze turn to Israel, the more they are perceived as
“traitors” by many of Syria’s Sunnis, further deepening the country’s
sectarian divide.

Israel is now positioned to use its claimed “protection” of the Druze as a
pretext to expand its occupation of southern Syria, including Suwayda, and
to establish the so-called David’s Corridor linking the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights to the US military base at Al-Tanf, to its Kurdish allies in
the SDF in northeast Syria, and onward into Iraq.

While discussing Israel’s initial green light*, Reuters* itself observed
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-believed-it-had-green-light-us-israel-deploy-troops-sweida-2025-07-19/>
that the massacres of Druze in Suwayda will soon serve long-standing
Israeli objectives.

"With more blood spilt and distrust of Sharaa's government high among
minorities, there are “real fears that Syria is heading towards being
broken up into statelets,” the agency wrote, citing a senior Gulf official,
which aligned with Israel’s goal to keep Syria “weak and decentralized.”

In short, Israel used a classic mafia tactic. Just like a mob boss who
sends his thugs to terrorize a shop owner before demanding payment for
“protection,” Israel now presents itself as the savior of a crisis it
helped create, using the bloodshed in Suwayda to legitimize permanent
occupation and redraw the map of southern Syria to its advantage.
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