Hijri says Druze community is an integral part of Israel

BEIRUT — Druze Sheikh Hikmat Hijri claimed that the Druze community is an integral part of Israel, noting that they share the same faith and ideology, Syria digital media platform Syria Now reported on Tuesday.

"We have an interest in preserving [Israel]. States have the right to build something to protect themselves," he said. "We hope that the rest of the region will follow this humanitarian approach of building states properly," he added, referring to Israel.

Israel has killed over 4,350 people in Lebanon since March 2 and occupies over 600 square kilometers of its territory. Since October 2023, Israel has killed almost 73,500 people in Gaza and turned the territory into ruins.

Hijri's comments come as Syria and Israel held high-level, U.S.-mediated talks in Jordan on Sunday to ease tensions following recent Israeli strikes on Syria. The talks focused on practical mechanisms to halt Israeli strikes, arrests and targeted operations, and on reviving negotiations towards a security agreement that could lay the groundwork for a broader future accord.

In January, Hijri said he wanted to establish an independent Druze entity in the Sweida province, adding that Israel would be the "appropriate entity" for supervising a possible transitional phase of self-rule.

After bloody clashes in Sweida in July last year between Druze factions and Bedouin tribes — backed by government forces — killed 1,600 people, mostly civilians, Hijri started a Druze militia and has repeatedly called for the creation of a separate region. He has stepped up appeals for support from Israel, openly presenting it as the “protector” of the Druze after Israel carried out airstrikes on Damascus in July 2025.

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt repeatedly criticized Hijri's pro-Israeli stances. In December, he said that "someone has decided to take over Sweida to make it an independent state with the support of Israel," which is a "suicidal project because it harms all the interests of the region's Arab Muslim Druze."