AFP Asia Business

Syria’s small Druze community largely kept out of the country’s long civil war but since president Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December it has found itself confronting the new Islamist-led government amid military intervention by Israel.Here is a profile of the religious minority which has been caught up in deadly clashes with armed groups linked to the government in recent days.- Secretive minority -The Druze community accounted for around three percent of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million, or around 700,000 people.They are concentrated in the southern province of Sweida with smaller pockets around Damascus.Druze are monotheistic and considered Muslim, but the sect is otherwise highly secretive and does not accept converts.They are viewed with suspicion by Sunni Islamist groups, who count among the ranks of Syria’s new government whose roots are in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network.In Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, there are around 150,000 Druze.Most of those in Israel hold Israeli citizenship and serve in the military.By contrast, most of the roughly 23,000 who live in the annexed Golan do not hold Israeli citizenship and still identify as Syrians.Some 200,000 Druze live in Lebanon. – Civil war -Syria’s Druze largely stayed on the sidelines of the  civil war which erupted in 2011 after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests.Druze forces focused on defending their heartland from attacks and largely avoided conscription into the Syrian armed forces.Sweida province saw more than a year of anti-government protests before Assad’s ouster.The Druze formed their own armed groups during the war. Some have begun negotiations with Damascus on integration into the new national army, following similar moves by armed factions elsewhere.Rayan Maarouf, chief editor of local news outlet Suwayda24, said some 400 Druze fighters had joined the defence ministry’s forces and around 500 others had joined the General Security agency.- Post-Assad -Assad hails from Syria’s Alawite community and as president sought to present himself as protector of all minority groups against the Islamist-led rebels.The new government has repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected.But last month saw sectarian massacres in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast and this week several dozen people, including Druze fighters, have been killed in sectarian clashes near Damascus.Since Assad’s ouster, Israel has increased its overtures to the Druze, voicing support for the minority and mistrust of Syria’s new leaders, whose forces it considers jihadists.The Israeli government has said it has sent thousands of humanitarian aid packages to Syria’s Druze community in recent months.Two delegations of Druze clerics have made pilgrimages to a holy site in Israel despite the continuing state of war between the two countries half a century after a 1974 armistice.In March, Israel warned Syria’s new authorities not to harm the Druze, after clashes in a Damascus suburb.Druze leaders rejected the warning and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “carried out a warning action and struck the organisation of an extremist group preparing to attack the Druze population” near Damascus.”A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime — Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community,” the statement from the Israeli premier’s office added.Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir ordered the military to prepare to strike Syrian government targets if the Druze community faces more violence.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered troops to deploy on Wednesday to support firefighters battling rapidly spreading wildfires near Jerusalem, calling the situation a “national emergency”.The country’s Magen David Adom rescue agency reported hundreds of civilians were currently at risk from the fires.Sixteen people were being treated for minor injuries from smoke inhalation, the MDA said, adding the alert level had been raised to the highest level.Police closed the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway and evacuated residents along the route as brushfires broke out again in an area ravaged by blazes a week ago.”We are facing a national emergency, and all available forces must be mobilised to save lives and bring the fires under control,” Katz said in a statement from his ministry.An AFP journalist at the scene said the fire was raging in wooded areas near the main road between Latrun and Beit Shemesh and that helicopters were working to extinguish the flames.Many drivers abandoned their vehicles in the middle of the road and fled as huge clouds of smoke billowed from the fire and the injured were evacuated.Communities located about 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Jerusalem were evacuated, Israeli media reported, airing images of firefighting teams battling fierce flames.MDA emergency services said ambulance teams had been positioned near communities close to the fires and were ready to provide medical treatment and assist residents.A motorcycle unit was ready to offer medical assistance to citizens stuck in heavy traffic, the agency added.High temperatures and strong winds have allowed the fires in wooded areas to spread quickly, prompting evacuations from at least five communities, the police said in a statement.National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees Israel’s fire department, visited the affected area, which is prone to wildfires at this time of year.In a video statement, he said work was being done to bring more assistance to the affected areas and evacuate stranded civilians.Israeli media reported that Israel had requested help from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Italy in fighting the fires.Due to the weather conditions, the Israeli minister responsible for arranging national ceremonies, Miri Regev, said the main Independence Day event planned for Wednesday evening in Jerusalem was cancelled.

Israel struck Syria on Wednesday in what it called a “warning” against attacks on the Druze minority, in a military intervention that came as sectarian clashes spread near Damascus, killing 13 people.The sectarian violence, and Israel’s intervention, present huge challenges to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and follow massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “carried out a warning action and struck the organisation of an extremist group preparing to attack the Druze population” in Sahnaya.Deadly sectarian clashes erupted overnight in Sahnaya, a town home to people from Syria’s Druze and Christian minorities southwest of the capital.Israel had previously warned Syria’s Islamist rulers against harming the Druze, who follow an offshoot of Islam and make up about three percent of Syria’s population.”A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime — Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.State news agency SANA, citing the health ministry, said 11 people were killed and an unspecified number wounded “after outlaw groups targeted civilians and security forces” in the Sahnaya area overnight.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said two local fighters were killed in Sahnaya during “clashes between gunmen linked to the authorities and local Druze fighters”.The night before, 17 people including eight Druze fighters and nine gunmen linked to the authorities were killed in Jaramana, a mainly Druze and Christian suburb southeast of the capital, the Observatory said.Jaramana and Sahnaya are surrounded by Sunni-majority areas.The violence was sparked by the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous.AFP was unable to confirm the recording’s authenticity.- ‘Iron fist’ -In Sahnaya, activist Samer Rafaa said that “we didn’t sleep… right now mortar shells are falling on our homes”.”The authorities are absent… we beg them to do their part,” Rafaa told AFP, adding that “people are dying.”The interior ministry said authorities would “strike with an iron first all those who seek to destabilise Syria’s security”, SANA reported.It said security forces launched an operation to arrest “outlaw gangs” in the area.Syria’s new Islamist authorities, who have roots in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network, have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country but must also contend with pressures from radical Islamists within their ranks.Israel, which sees Syria’s new forces as jihadists, has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria since Assad’s downfall and ground incursions to keep forces away from its border.It has also sent troops into the demilitarised buffer zone of the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights and voiced support for Syria’s Druze.The Druze are mainly divided between Lebanon, Israel and Syria.Key Syria backer Turkey has accused Israel of stirring up divisions and turning minorities against Damascus.Citing a security source, SANA said that “outlaw groups” in Sahnaya attacked a checkpoint overnight while other groups fired at vehicles elsewhere.The Observatory also said Druze gunmen targeted checkpoints, adding a curfew was imposed and local officials discussed ways to restore calm.- Jaramana clashes -Druze fighter Karam, declining to provide his full name due to the security situation, told AFP that clashes began outside Sahnaya “and spread to its outskirts”.”The sound of fighting has not stopped since last night,” said Karam, 27, as gunfire rang out in the background, adding that “there is a body on the road ahead of me… restoring calm will require great effort”.Information ministry official Ali al-Rifai told journalists the dead included five security personnel targeted by “sniper” fire.The six others, from the southern province of Daraa, were inside a vehicle that was targeted, Rifai added.Armed factions were dissolved and have been integrating into the defence ministry after Assad’s ouster.General Security, formerly the chief security agency in rebel-held northwest Syria, is now the most influential such body. In Jaramana, calm returned on as Syria’s government promised Druze leaders to try those responsible for the violence, which it blamed on “gunmen”.An AFP photographer said mourners raised Druze flags at the funeral Wednesday for seven fighters from Jaramana.Druze representatives have declared their loyalty to a united Syria amid Israeli warnings.Last month’s massacres on the coast, where the Observatory said security forces and allied groups killed more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, were the worst bloodshed since the December ouster of Assad, who is from the minority community.The government accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence by attacking security forces, and has launched an inquiry.

A US official on Wednesday told the International Court of Justice there were “serious concerns” about the impartiality of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.ICJ judges are holding a week of hearings to help them formulate an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations towards UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza.”There are serious concerns about UNRWA’s impartiality, including information that Hamas has used UNRWA facilities and that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7th terrorist attack against Israel,” said Josh Simmons from the State Department legal team.Around 40 nations and organisations such as the League of Arab States are taking part in the hearings.Israel is not participating at the ICJ but has dismissed the hearings as “part of the systematic persecution and delegitimisation” of the country.The status of UNRWA is central to the hearings.Israel has banned it from operating on Israeli soil, after accusing some of its staff of taking part in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.A series of investigations, including one led by France’s former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.Simmons however said Israel had “ample grounds” to question UNRWA’s impartiality.”Given these concerns, it is clear that Israel has no obligation to permit UNRWA specifically to provide humanitarian assistance. UNRWA is not the only option for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” he added.UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that more than 50 of its staff in Gaza were abused and used as human shields while in Israeli military detention.Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.Supplies are dwindling and the UN’s World Food Programme on Friday said it had sent out its “last remaining food stocks” to kitchens.France’s representative Diego Colas called for humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza “at massive scale.” “The restrictions on its access should be lifted without delay,” said Colas. – ‘Starvation is here’ -In December, the UN’s General Assembly asked the ICJ for an advisory opinion “on a priority basis and with the utmost urgency”.It will however likely to take several months for judges to form their opinion but the international medical aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned time was running out.”Waiting for any kind of legal recourse… will condemn yet more Palestinians to avoidable death, while the world watches on impassively, doing nothing to avoid this indiscriminate and abhorrent cruelty,” said MSF official Claire Nicolet.On Monday, Palestinian delegate Ammar Hijazi accused Israel of blocking humanitarian aid as a “weapon of war”.”Nine of every 10 Palestinians have no access to safe drinking water. Storage facilities of the UN and other international agencies are empty,” added Hijazi.”These are the facts. Starvation is here,” he said.Although ICJ advisory opinions are not legally binding, the court believes they “carry great legal weight and moral authority”.Simmons argued that the court should not focus on what he called a “one-sided” question relating only to Israel.”There should be no finding either as to compliance with any obligations identified in this proceeding or as to the legal consequences of any alleged breach,” he said.