Druze, Syria and Bedouin
Digest more
Syria, Sweida and Damascus
Digest more
Members of Syria's Druze community are searching for loved ones and counting their dead after days of clashes in a southern province that left bloodied bodies of civilians on the streets and homes looted.
Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.
That afternoon, Netanyahu and Katz ordered the Israeli military to once again attack government forces and weaponry in Suweida. They said they were working to prevent them from harming the Druze and to "ensure the demilitarisation" of areas near Israel's border.
Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. is "very concerned" by expanding Israeli strikes targeting Syria's new government, and he wants "the fighting to stop."
Syria’s Interior Ministry denied reports that its forces had entered the southern Druze-majority province of Suwayda to contain ongoing clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes, a state-owned Syrian TV reported on Friday,
11hon MSNOpinion
Religious minorities in Syria face persecution under the new Islamist government, highlighting the critical importance of religious liberty as the foundation for all other freedoms
2don MSN
Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.