Israel says ‘very dangerous’ to be minority in Sharaa’s Syria

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel on Saturday dismissed a renewed pledge by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to protect minorities after deadly sectarian clashes, saying it was “very dangerous” to be a minority in the country.

More than 700 people have been killed in Syria’s Sweida province since Sunday as clashes between the Druze and Sunni Bedouin drew in the Islamist-led government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.

“Bottom line: In al-Shara’s Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority – Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar posted on X.

“This has been proven time and again over the past six months,” he said.

The international community had “a duty to ensure the security and rights of the minorities in Syria and to condition Syria’s renewed acceptance into the family of nations on their protection”, he added.

Syria forces deploy in Druze heartland after US brokers deal with Israel

Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in the Druze heartland on Saturday under a US-brokered ceasefire deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention.

Israel bombed defence ministry forces in both Sweida and the capital Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province.

Israel, which has its own sizeable Druze community, said it was defending the minority.

But some diplomats and analysts say its goal is to weaken the military in Syria, its historic adversary, seeing it at a weak point since Sharaa’s Sunni toppled Bashar al-Assad, an Iranian ally, in December.