Druze men protest in solidarity with the Syrian Druze community near the border barrier in the village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights annexed by Israel, on April 30, 2025. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
The most influential Druze religious leader in Syria on Thursday denounced a "genocidal campaign" against his community and lashed out at the government of Ahmad al-Sharaa, following sectarian clashes that claimed more than 100 lives in two days, according to an NGO. These clashes near and south of Damascus between Druze fighters and armed groups linked to Sunni leadership illustrated the ongoing instability in Syria, nearly five months after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri denounced an "unjustified genocidal campaign" targeting "civilians in their homes" and called for "immediate intervention by international forces."
"We no longer trust an entity that claims to be a government ... A government does not kill its people using its own extremist militias, then, after massacres, claims that they were uncontrolled elements. A government protects its people," he said
Reacting on X, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani stated that "any call for foreign intervention, under any pretext or slogan, will lead to a deterioration of the situation and more divisions."
The fighting in Jaramana and Sahnaya, where Christians and Druze live, as well as in predominantly Druze Sweida, has revived the specter of massacres that left more than 1,700 dead in early March, mostly Alawite minority members. The violence was triggered by pro-Assad attacks against security forces.
Claiming to defend the Druze, Israel, Syria's neighbor with whom it is technically at war, threatened to strike Syria in case of further violence against this minority. The Druze are an esoteric minority from Shiite Islam, and its members are distributed mainly between Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The Alawites are another minority branch of Islam, while Sunni Islam and Shiite Islam are its two main branches.
'Firm commitment'
The clashes were triggered Monday night by an attack by government-affiliated armed groups against Jaramana, following the dissemination on social media of an audio message attributed to a Druze and deemed blasphemous against the Prophet Muhammad. AFP could not verify the authenticity of the message. Syrian authorities accused "outlaw groups" of causing the violence.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 30 members of government-linked Islamist security forces and fighters were killed, as well as 21 Druze fighters and 10 civilians during clashes in the suburbs of Jaramana and Sahnaya, near Damascus, on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the province of Sweida, a Druze stronghold near Israel, 40 other Druze fighters were killed Wednesday, including 35 in an ambush.
On this occasion, the Syrian government stated its "firm commitment to protect all components of the Syrian people, including the Druze community." It also expressed "its categorical rejection of any foreign interference" after Israeli military intervention.
'Spreading chaos'
Israel conducted several strikes, claiming to target Syrian government objectives. The Druze in Israel form an Arabic-speaking minority of about 150,000 people known for their patriotism and are overrepresented in the army and police relative to their numbers. In neighboring Lebanon, Walid Joumblatt accused Israel of exploiting the Druze in Syria. "Israel continues to want to implement its long-standing plan ... to divide the region into sectarian entities and spread chaos," he said at the end of March.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, overthrown by a coalition of Islamist rebel factions led by Sharaa after more than 13 years of civil war, Israel has multiplied gestures of openness towards the Druze. But Druze dignitaries have stated their commitment to the unity of Syria and rejected Israeli threats against the Syrian power.
"By positioning itself as protector of the Druze community, Israel hopes to both find local allies, particularly in southern Syria, but also to exert influence at a time when Syria's future remains uncertain," said Michael Horowitz, an independent analyst. France condemned "the deadly sectarian violence against the Druze in Syria" and called "on Israel not to take unilateral actions that could exacerbate community tensions."
Reactions in Lebanon
In Lebanon, Sheikh Akl Sami Abi al-Mouna spoke by phone with Saudi Ambassador Walid Boukhari to inform him of the ongoing situation in Ashrafieh Sahnaya and its surroundings, according to the National News Agency (NNA). It was agreed to consider urgently holding a meeting at the Druze community house, bringing together several ambassadors from influential countries on the Syrian issue, to work on a common position aimed at stopping the bloodshed and acts of violence and brutality targeting civilians in their homes and villages, the NNA added. On Wednesday, the two main Lebanese Druze figures, Joumblatt and Mouna, intensified their diplomatic efforts to contain the escalation, denounce any attempt at Israeli interference and call for an immediate cease-fire.
The Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party in Lebanon said in a statement that "the serious events of a sectarian, religious, and criminal nature occurring in Jarmana, Sahnaya, Ashrafiyat Sahnaya and Sweida, herald a major turning point that threatens the future, unity, and stability of Syria." The party condemned "all killings and sectarian reactions," calling on everyone to "exercise the utmost wisdom and responsibility in dealing with the sedition project that many parties seek to achieve, aiming to destroy the social structure and infrastructure of the state in Syria."
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
