Israeli soldiers guard a gate on the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, at its Israeli side at Majdal Shams, as a Druze flag hung on a fence near by May 3, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon)
Amid ongoing clashes between government-affiliated Islamist militias and Druze gunmen in southern Syria, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to deliver supplies to Druze forces deep within Syria and evacuated some of their wounded for treatment in Israel.
Since the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized control of the Syrian government last year, Israel has pledged to support the country’s Druze community against attacks and has declared southern Syria a demilitarized zone.
On Saturday morning, the IDF announced that it had launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on military targets in Syria, after striking a target near the presidential palace in Damascus the previous day – its strongest warning so far.
“Last night, the IDF carried out airstrikes targeting infrastructure components and weapons across Syria, including anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missile launchers. The IDF will continue to operate in order to carry out its missions and remove any threat in the area,” the IDF stated.
Syrian reports said the strikes hit around 20 targets across the Daraa, Damascus, and Hama regions.
Overnight, five more wounded Druze were brought to Ziv Medical Center in Safed for treatment, bringing the total number evacuated to Israel to 16.
The IDF reiterated that its troops remain deployed in the security buffer zone in southern Syria, stressing that it is “prepared to prevent the entry of hostile forces into the area of Druze villages. The IDF continues to monitor developments with readiness for defense and various scenarios.”
In recent days, significant tension has erupted between the #Druze population in #Syria (in southern Damascus and Sweida) and the Syrian regime’s security forces. This tension has escalated into violent clashes between Druze militias and regime forces:
1.The clashes began in… pic.twitter.com/Bbsy487kX9
— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) May 2, 2025
The clashes, which have so far resulted in dozens of victims on both sides, erupted last week after a viral recording allegedly captured a Druze leader disparaging the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
Attacks by Islamist militias against majority-Druze towns followed, including Jaramana and Sahnaya, which are located near Damascus, as well as in the southern Suweida province.
In an unprecedented move, an Israeli Air Force helicopter carried humanitarian aid to Druze forces in Suweida, about 70 km (43 miles) from the Israeli border, a defense source told Israeli media outlets on Saturday.
The operation was explicitly approved by the political echelon, the source added.
Additional aid was delivered in coordination with the IDF and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), which said it provided “medical equipment and food boxes to Druze and Christian villages in Syria in the middle of the night amid significant risk.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a watchdog organization whose funding and affiliation are unclear, has reported that over 100 people were killed in the fighting over the past week.
