Syria rejects Israeli 'politicization' of Druze community

Syria accuses Israel of arming militias

Syrian government officials on Thursday rejected attempts to exploit the Druze community in southern Sweida province for Israeli electoral purposes, accusing Tel Aviv of arming an “outlawed militia” to foment chaos. “The Druze community in Sweida province has been and will remain an integral and inseparable part of the national fabric of the Syrian Arab Republic,” a government source told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), adding that Damascus “categorically rejects politicizing the Druze community or dragging it into Israeli propaganda and elections.”

The remarks came in response to claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding July 2025 events in Sweida. Netanyahu alleged on Thursday that he held a brief, tense phone call with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa during the violence, claiming his intervention helped halt killings while alluding to Israeli strikes on Damascus.

Regional tensions and diplomatic roadmap

The crisis began in July 2025 when clashes erupted between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes in Sweida, subsequently escalating to draw in government forces and Israeli airstrikes targeting sites in the province and the capital. On Sept. 16, 2025, Syria, Jordan and the US agreed on a joint roadmap to resolve the crisis during a meeting in Damascus, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The Syrian source called upon the international community, the UN and regional states to pressure Israel to adhere to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and cease interference in Syria's internal affairs. Damascus and Tel Aviv signed the Agreement on Disengagement on May 31, 1974, establishing the UN Disengagement Observer Force to oversee the ceasefire and separation zone between the two sides.