By Weedah Hamzah and Amira Rajab
dpa
(TNS)
Damascus (dpa) — A deadly ambush in southern Syria has left at least 35 members of the Druze minority dead, according to a monitoring group, escalating tensions and prompting Israel to threaten to intervene.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the victims were targeted late Wednesday on the Damascus–Sweida highway in an attack allegedly carried out by Syrian security forces and pro-government militias.
The victims were reportedly armed Druze men going to help other Druze in the town of Sahnaya, where there had recently been deadly clashes.
On Thursday, a source inside Sahnaya said that the town’s mayor and his son were found dead inside their home after having been killed by unknown assailants. The mayor, a Druze, had appeared in a video on Syrian television on Wednesday calling for calm.
Videos circulating on social media shared by Druze from Sahnaya showed government forces abusing detainees.
In some videos, detainees are seen being humiliated in a manner reminiscent of the old Syrian security apparatus’s treatment of prisoners during the early years of the civil war that began in 2011.
Videos were also being circulating of verbal abuse and forced shavings of hair and mustaches.
A Druze source in Sweida confirmed Wednesday’s incident, telling dpa that “no one could have carried out this massacre without cover from government forces.”
Nine men were said to have been executed at the scene, with some bodies burned.
The killings are part of a broader surge in violence in a country that had been wracked by war for more than a decade.
Since Monday, at least 101 people have been killed in clashes between Sunni militias and armed Druze factions, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The group collects information via a network of local sources.
Druze sheikhs, local dignitaries and commanders of armed factions in Sweida reached a deal with Syrian government forces late on Thursday following the escalation, state media and Druze sources said.
Druze militants in Sweida have agreed to hand over heavy weapons and to allow Syrian-government-affiliated General Security forces to enter the area to oversee all security installations in the city.
Sources in Sweida told dpa that the move aimed at ending bloodshed and restoring order in the area, which has a majority Druze population.
The agreement also includes the formation of a new auxiliary military force under the Syrian Ministry of Defense, composed exclusively of local Druze residents.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Syrian leadership against fresh attacks on the Druze.
“I reiterate my warning to the head of the Syrian regime, Al-Sharaa: If the attacks on the Druze in Syria do not cease, we will respond with great severity,” he said according to his spokesman, addressing the interim president of the neighboring country, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also called on the international community to intervene in Syria.
“We, the Jewish people, know what it is to be a minority. The Middle East is a tough region for minorities,” he said.
“I call on the international community to fulfill its role in protecting the minorities in Syria — especially the Druze — from the regime and its gangs of terror, and not to turn a blind eye to the tough events taking place there over the recent months,” he added.
The Israeli air force attacked targets in Syria several times on Wednesday. Israeli military sources said people attacking Druze were shot at near Damascus.
The unrest was reportedly sparked by an audio recording perceived as insulting to the prophet Mohammed. Although initially blamed on a Druze individual, Syria’s Interior Ministry later said the person had no connection to the recording.
In a strongly worded statement, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri condemned the attacks, accusing the government of deploying ideologically driven militias against civilians. “A government does not kill its own people using militias,” he said, urging international intervention to prevent further bloodshed.
The Druze are a religious minority that today resides primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. The religious community emerged from Shiite Islam in the 11th century.
Druze are well respected in Israel and they serve in the army.
During the reign of ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad, many Druze in Syria were close to the government. Since his overthrow, some Druze have become critical of the new Islamist-led leadership in Damascus. Others are cooperating with the new government.
The latest violence underscores the deepening fragility of intercommunal relations in Syria and the risk of renewed sectarian conflict.
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