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Syria Withdraws Bedouin Fighters From Druze-Majority City
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The Druze religious sect, enmeshed in an outbreak of tit-for-tat violence in Syria, began roughly 1,000 years ago as an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam.
Trapped in her home in As-Suwayda, Syrian pharmacist Hala Saraya recounts the brutal killings of her family and pleads for the world to hear the Druze community's cry for help.
Dr Talat Amer, a surgeon at Sweida National Hospital in southern Syria, worked tirelessly for three days as bombs fell and the building came under siege from government and militia forces.
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At the center of a crisis in Syria are the Druze — a secretive religious minority that long carved out a precarious identity across Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.
As of mid-2025, 6,006 Druze in the Golan, roughly 20% of the 29,000-strong community, hold Israeli citizenship. This surge reflects not only a growing willingness to formally align with Israel, but also an acceleration of a trend that predates the latest violence in Syria.
Israeli military responds to protect Syrian Druze from Islamist militants as local Druze citizens cross the border to aid their brethren, prompting concerns from Israeli officials.
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