Syria teeters on the edge of descending into disarray, with Israel launching airstrikes on pro-government forces in response to a series of assaults by Islamists on Druze minority communities.
The country, currently under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) since the ousting of brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime late last year, was struck by multiple missile attacks from Israel targeting security forces in the Druze locality of Ashrafieh Sahnaya just last night.
These strikes followed sectarian conflicts that resulted in over 70 fatalities in a span of two days, prompting Israel to caution against any violence aimed at the vulnerable Druze minority population, who now live in fear of potential massacres.
‘We’re in extreme panic and fear because of the indiscriminate shelling, which is forcing most of us to stay totally shuttered inside our homes,’ said Elias Hanna, who lives on the edge of Sahnaya.
‘We’re worried that the massacres of the coast will repeat themselves near Sahnaya against the Druze,’ he said.
Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri on Thursday condemned what he called a ‘genocidal campaign’ against his people, after two days of deadly sectarian clashes.
In a statement, Hijri described the violence in Jaramana and Sahnaya, near Damascus, as an ‘unjustifiable genocidal campaign’ and urged immediate intervention by ‘international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes’.
The sectarian violence and Israel’s intervention present huge challenges to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and follow massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast.
Syria is on the brink of erupting into chaos, after Israel bombed pro-government forces following a series of Islamist attacks on Druze minority groups
Druze men demonstrate in solidarity with the Syrian Druze community near the border barrier in the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on April 30, 2025
Members of Syria’s security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sahnaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025
United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen condemned the violence as ‘unacceptable’ and expressed alarm at ‘the potential for further escalation of an extremely fragile situation’.
State news agency SANA reported ‘Israeli occupation strikes on the vicinity’ of Ashrafieh Sahnaya, southwest of the nation’s capital.
Deadly sectarian clashes erupted overnight in Sahnaya, which is home to many Druze and Christians.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six Druze fighters were killed in the clashes while the interior ministry reported 16 General Security personnel killed after ‘outlaw groups’ attacked government positions and checkpoints.
The governor of the Damascus countryside, Amer al-Sheikh, later said one member of the security forces and a resident of Sahnaya were killed in the Israeli strike.
He added that most members of the ‘outlawed groups’ were arrested and that security had been restored in Sahnaya.
The previous night, eight Druze fighters and nine gunmen linked to the authorities were killed in Jaramana, a mainly Druze and Christian suburb southeast of the capital, the Observatory said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had carried out a ‘warning action’, striking ‘an extremist group preparing to attack the Druze population’ in Sahnaya.
‘A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime – Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community,’ said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
Israel had previously warned Syria’s Islamist rulers against harming the Druze, who are also present in Lebanon and Israel.
The Israeli military said Wednesday it had ordered troops to ‘prepare to strike’ Syrian government targets ‘should the violence against Druze communities continue’.
Members of Syria’s security forces deploy in an area near the Syrian capital Damascus on April 30, 2025, amid deadly sectarian clashes
Members of Syria’s security forces deploy as a sniper fires during an operation on the outskirts of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Members of Syria’s security forces deploy in an area near the Syrian capital Damascus on April 30, 2025
In a later statement, the Israeli military said that three Syrian Druze were ‘evacuated from Syria to receive medical treatment in Israel’.
Syria’s foreign ministry meanwhile vowed to ‘protect all components’ of society, including the Druze, and expressed its rejection of ‘foreign interference’.
Druze communities have reportedly already begun taking up arms to defend their homes from attackers.
Syrian estate agent Fahd Haidar shuttered his business and got out his rifle to defend his hometown of Jaramana when it came under attack this week by Islamists loyal to the new government.
Fourteen years after former ruler Bashar al-Assad’s bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests triggered a devastating civil war, Haidar said he feared a return to ‘chaos’, a slide into a ‘quagmire of grievances that will affect every Syrian’.
He appealed to the new authorities, who took over after Assad’s ouster in December, to step back from the brink and find ‘radical solutions’ to rein in ‘uncontrolled gangs’ like those who attacked his mainly Druze and Christian hometown this week.
In Jaramana, Druze leaders reached a deal with government representatives on Tuesday evening to put a halt to the fighting.
On Wednesday morning, an AFP correspondent saw hundreds of armed Druze, some of them just boys, deployed across the town.
The strikes came after sectarian clashes left nearly 40 dead in two days and Israel warned against attacks targeting the Druze minority
Members of Syria’s security forces deploy in the town of Sahnaya, south of Damascus, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Syria’s foreign ministry meanwhile vowed to ‘protect all components’ of society, including the Druze
Behind mounds of earth piled up as improvised defences, Druze fighters handed out weapons and ammunition.
‘For the past two days, the people of Jaramana have been on a war footing,’ said local activist Rabii Mondher.
‘Everybody is scared – of war… of coming under siege, of a new assault and new martyrs.’
Like many residents in the confessionally mixed town, Mondher said he hoped ‘peace will be restored… because we have no choice but to live together’.
Mounir Baaker lost his nephew Riadh in this week’s clashes.
‘We don’t take an eye for an eye,’ he said tearfully, as he received the condolences of friends and neighbours.
‘Jaramana is not used to this,’ he went on, holding up a photograph of his slain nephew, who was among a number of young Druze men from the town who signed up to join the new security forces after Assad’s ouster.
‘We’re brought up to be tolerant, not to strike back and not to attack anyone, whoever they are,’ he said. ‘But we defend ourselves if we are attacked.’
