On July 13th, a fierce conflict erupted between the Druze armed factions and Bedouin tribes in Suwayda province, Syria. The Syrian government’s internal and defense ministries intervened and engaged in firefights with some of the Druze armed groups.
Following this, Israel intervened on the grounds of protecting the Syrian Druze. So, what sparked the conflict in Suwayda province? Why did Israel get involved in the conflict?
There have been historical contradictions between the Druze people and Bedouin tribes in Suwayda province. Prior to this conflict, there had been land disputes between them. During the Syrian civil war, multiple kidnapping incidents occurred between the two sides.
On the 16th, Israeli military forces bombed various locations including Damascus, Suwayda province, and Deir el-Zor province. According to Syrian media reports, from the evening of the 17th to the early hours of the 18th, Israeli forces launched another airstrike on Suwayda province.
Israel has a deep connection with the Syrian Druze community.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated on the 15th that Israel is “committed to preventing harm to Syrian Druze people because we have a strong brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel, and they have family and historical connections with Syrian Druze people.”
Druze people are primarily distributed across Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and the occupied Golan Heights. Israel has a profound historical and cultural connection with the Syrian Druze community. Many Druze individuals in Israel serve in the Israeli military.
So, is Israel’s bombing of Damascus merely for the sake of protecting Syrian Druze people? After the dramatic political upheaval in Syria in December last year, Israel seized the Golan Heights buffer zone and adjacent areas, seeking cooperation with the majority of the Syrian population in Suwayda province, aiming to establish a so-called “no-military zone” in southern Syria, stating “forbid the entry of troops and weapons into southern Syria.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu previously stated that the Syrian regime poses a threat to Israel. In May this year, an Israeli official mentioned that Netanyahu had asked U.S. President Trump not to lift sanctions against Syria.
There have been no security agreements reached between Israel and Syria, and instead, Israel has bombed Syria multiple times this year. Analysts believe that Israel prefers to see a weakened Syria rather than a powerful country that could pose a threat to it.