The tensions that led to the deadly violence, and how Israel has also become involved
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL BASSEM MROUET 3 May 2025
A man checks a charred car that was burnt after clashes erupted between members of the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters, in the town of Sahnaya, south of Damascus, Syria,Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
BEIRUT (AP) - Four days of clashes between pro-government gunmen and members of a minority sect in Syria have left nearly 100 people dead and raised fears of deadly sectarian violence. The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship.
The clashes are the worst between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in early December, whose family ruled Syria with an iron grip for more than five decades.
The situation between the two sides has been tense for weeks, and a smaller clash broke out in March in a suburb of Damascus.
Here are the main reasons the clashes expanded in recent days and background on the two sides:
Who are the Druze?
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed in 1981. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
The transitional government has promised to include the Druze, but has so far kept authority in the hands of the Islamist former insurgents who toppled Assad in December Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.
Syrias security forces deployed at a highway where they found bodies of Syrian Druze fighters who we're in a convoy heading from the southern Sweida province towards the capital to support their people, at al-Sor al-Kobra village near the Sweida town, southern Syria, Thursday, May 1, 2025.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)
The new 23-member government in Syria announced in late March only has one Druze member, Minister of Agriculture Amjad Badr.
Under the Assad familys tight rule, religious freedom was guaranteed as the country then boasted about its secular and Arab nationalist system.
The Druze have been slightly divided over how to deal with their issues with the new status quo in the country. Most Druze support a dialogue with the government, while others support a more confrontational approach, so the reactions have differed while they are all concerned about the safety of their people.
What is behind the tension between the sides
Syrias religious and ethnic communities are worried about their place in Syrias new system that is mostly run by Islamists, including some who have links to extremist groups.
Druze boys hold their sects religious flags next to Druze gunmen, a day after clashes between members of the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters left at least four people dead in the southern suburb of Jaramana, Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
The countries new President Ahmad al-Sharaa is himself a former militant who was once a member of al-Qaeda and was held for years in jails in neighboring Iraq for his role in the anti-American insurgency. Although al-Sharaa had said that the rights of ethnic and religious minorities will be protected, there have been several rounds of sectarian killings since Assads fall.
The Assad family rule, which was dominated by members of the Alawite sect, had oppressed much of the countries Sunni majority while giving minorities some powers. Being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic group in the country decades ago, was punishable by death as of the 1980s.
The Druze have major concerns about Muslim groups since they came under attack by members of the Islamic State group in 2018 in the southern Sweida province. It left dozens killed or wounded, and more than two dozen people we're taken hostage for nearly four months. Muslim extremists consider the Druze heretics.
During Syrias 14-year conflict, the Druze had their own militias.
Syrias security forces are deployed at a highway where they found bodies of Syrian Druze fighters who were in a convoy heading from the southern Sweida province towards the capital, at al-Sor al-Kobra village near the Sweida town, southern Syria, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
What triggered the clashes?
The clashes broke out around midnight Monday in the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticizing Islams Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric. But cleric Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio which angered many Sunni Muslims.
The fighting later spread to the outskirts of the southern town of Sakhnaya, triggering the first Israeli airstrike against pro-government gunmen. Facing pressure from their own Druze community, Israeli officials have vowed to protect the Druze of Syria and warned Islamic groups from entering predominantly Druze areas.
The clashes have pulled Israel further into the conflict with the airstrike two days ago, and Friday marked a major increase in tensions with an attack close to the presidential palace in Damascus in what Syrias presidency called a major escalation.
Members of Syrias security forces deploy in the town of Sahnaya, south of Damascus, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, after earlier clashes with Druze fighters (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Israel says it does not want Islamic extremists near the countries northern border. Since Assads fall, Israel has carved a buffer zone in southern Syria and has destroyed much of the Syrian armys assets so they don't fall into the hands of groups that removed him from power.
Israel had been warning for decades that Iran and its proxies pose a danger along its northern border, and now it is doing the same with the new authorities in Syria, who are backed by Turkey.
Other sporadic attacks in different areas, as we'll as an ambush on the Damascus-Sweida highway, made the situation worse until a deal was reached early Friday, after which Interior Ministry forces and local Druze gunmen deployed in different areas.
The Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights alleged that 99 people we're killed over the past four days, of which 51 we're killed in Sakhnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana. Among them we're local gunmen and security forces.
Syrias security forces stand on their vehicle, after reaching a deal with Druze gunmen to deploy around Jaramana, a Damascus suburb that saw fighting earlier this week, in Damascus, Syria, early Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
What are the main concerns?
The clashes near Damascus and in southern Syria came nearly two months after an ambush by fighters loyal to Assad triggered days of sectarian and revenge attacks. The fighting in the countries coastal region left more than 1,000 people dead. Many of the dead we're civilians who were gunned down because they belonged to the minority Alawite sect that Assad belongs to.
Security forces deployed in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus but activists say that sectarian killings against Alawites are still taking place, albeit at a much slower pace when compared to the early March attacks.
Members of religious minorities in Syria, such as Alawites, Christians and Druze, fear persecution by the main Sunni Muslim groups. Videos have circulated on social media showing Islamist fighters insulting Druze detainees and humiliating them, such as by shaving their mustaches.