Syria druze

Inside Syria’s struggles: Jonathan Spyer on conflict, Israel’s strategy, and reintegration

In a conversation with Jonathan Spyer, expert on Syria, we explore the latest flare-ups of violence, Israel's strategic role, and the challenges of reintegrating a fractured nation.

Bedouin families ride on a vehicle as they leave the village of Al-Mazraa, as residents reported calm in Syria's Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city, Sweida, Syira, July 21, 2025.
Jonathan Spyer

Jonathan Spyer: A closer look at Syria's current situation

The Druze doctor at Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, treating his relative from Sweida, July 2025.

Israeli-Druze doctor meets long-lost Syrian relatives evacuated from Sweida

Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, July 27, 2025

Not only doing the right thing, but convincing the world that we are - opinion


Syria seeks balance in Sweida amid Druze-Bedouin clashes, Israeli strikes - analysis

As tensions rise in southern Syria, the government seeks to balance humanitarian aid with regional stability amidst Israeli strikes.

Syrian security forces walk together along a street, after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, in Sweida, Syria July 16, 2025.

The blind spot of the West: Failed collaboration with jihadists - opinion

Western governments pursue the integration of Syrian jihadists into the international community, even at the cost of eradicating cultural diversity in Syria.

INTERNAL SECURITY FORCES stand guard at a checkpoint as buses arrive for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s evacuation of civilians from Sweida last week. The Druze in Sweida and nearby villages still face an urgent threat of massacre, says the writer.

Syrian extremists executed American Druze who sought to aid his family

Saraya, a member of the Druze religious minority, was living in Oklahoma but had returned to the family home in Sweida to take care of his ill father.

Bedouin fighters stand together, following the Syrian presidency's announcement of a ceasefire after days of violence in Sweida province triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, in Sweida, Syria, July 19, 2025

Syria, Israel agree to further talks on de-escalating conflict, Ekhbariya TV reports

On Friday, US envoy Tom Barrack said officials from both countries spoke about de-escalating the situation in Syria during the talks on Thursday.

 Ahmed Al-Sharaa standing atop Mount Qasioun, overlooking the fall of Damascus, December 9, 2024.

UN confirms aid delivered to Sweida after nearly 150,000 displaced by violence

More than 145,000 people have been displaced by the recent fighting, the WHO said, with many sheltering in makeshift reception centers in Daraa and Damascus.

 People carry a person, injured in recent clashes in Syria's Sweida province, as casualties receive treatment at a field medical point, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Deraa, Syria July 18, 2025

Syrian, Israeli officials discuss de-escalation in Paris meeting, US envoy says

"Our goal was dialog and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that," Barrack said in a statement on social media website X.

 Druze residents protest near the Israeli-Syrian border fence in solidarity with their community in Syria, July 16, 2025.

Chairman of Israeli-Druze center sets up protest tent outside PM's office

Khnifess said that Israel’s intervention in Syria came "too late and was insufficient." "The State of Israel must act to prevent jihadist militias from sitting on the northern border," he emphasized.

Dr. Amir Khnifess set up a tent in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.

In Druze town where hundreds breached border with Syria, residents mourn one tragedy, fear another

Hundreds of Druze residents pushed through the security fence separating the Israeli Golan Heights from Syria, rushing toward family members they had not seen in decades.

The damaged border fence in Majdal Shams several days after Israeli Druze breached it to reunite with family members in Syria, July 2025.

Escalating patterns: Surge in anti-Druze hate speech linked to Syria unrest, CyberWell reports

According to the watchdog, the incitement includes explicit antisemitic language and conspiracy theories portraying Syrian Druze as collaborators with Israel.

 Israeli Druze cross the border to check on their family members in Syria, amid the ongoing conflict in the Druze areas in Syria, in Majdal Shams, near the ceasefire line between the Golan Heights and Syria, July 16, 2025.

On the brink of chaos: Clashes in Syria threaten to spill over - opinion

The current situation, and especially the violence by the new Syrian regime or other ethnic groups, will require Israel to intervene militarily and diplomatically.

SYRIA’S PRESIDENT Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrive for a news conference in Ankara earlier this year. Israel, the US, and Turkey are key players in setting the fate of Syria and regional stability, the writer maintains.

Why Israel must support Syria’s minorities - opinion

Israel may be the only hope for vulnerable minorities in Syria in need of protection from the new Syrian regime.

THE US has lifted economic sanctions on Syria and President Donald Trump even met with Ahmed al-Sharaa in May, in Riyadh, praising him highly, the writer notes.