Israel Fuels Sectarian Slaughter in Syria

26-07-2025: On Wednesday the 16^th of July, the Israeli state carried out direct air strikes on Syria in broad daylight, hitting a compound that contains the Syrian Ministry of Defence and areas near the presidential palace. They also struck targets in southern Syria, where fighting between Bedouin tribes, Druze militias and HTS (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham) Al Qaeda “government” forces went on for days.[1] Clashes in the mainly Druze city of Suwayda began on the 13^th of July, after pro “government” HTS Bedouin fighters set up a checkpoint on the Damascus-Suwayda highway. At some point they robbed and beat up a young Druze man, which led to a series of retaliatory attacks from Druze defenders. There have been reports that the pro-Al Qaeda government militias were beheading Druze men and abducting Druze women.[2] Currently, there is an uneasy cessation of the extreme violence.

Druze being used as a pretext

The lull in deadly chaos may not last for long. Incredibly, the Zionist Israeli state stated that the justification for its air strikes was the protection of the Druze and other minorities in Syria. Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar posted that in Mohammed Al-Jolani’s Syria (the unelected former founder of ISIS installed as “President”), it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority – Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian.[3] This is true, but the Israeli state greatly assisted in bringing about the overthrow of the Syrian Arab Republic, when President Bashar Al-Assad fled the country in December last year. Whatever one’s view of the politics of the Al-Assad clan or the Baath Party, Syria was a secular and multi-religious state, where all religious denominations lived side by side. This state of affairs was terminated by Western imperialism, which carried out a “dirty war” of regime change from 2011 onwards. With ISIS and Al Qaeda militias in “power”, sectarian violence is now common.

By July 18, it was being reported that around 600 people, mainly Druze, had been slaughtered in the fighting in and around Suwayda, with nearly 2000 families being displaced.[4] Some HTS/Al Qaeda “government” forces have carried out and filmed their atrocities, such as executing Druze by forcing them onto building balconies and shooting them, causing their bodies to crash to the ground many floors below.[5] Some pro-government militias announced the expulsion of Druze students from Damascus University, one of the oldest Universities in the Middle East.[6] After the HTS pro-government terror militias had withdrawn from Suwayda, the dead bodies of Druze civilians, including women, children and the elderly were found scattered in the streets. Some were found in homes and cars, and some had reportedly been executed in alley ways.[7]

It seems clear that the Zionist Israeli state was using the Druze as a pretext for claiming more territory within Syria, despite the appearance of disagreements with HTS and Al Jolani. While it is true that some Druze serve in the IDF (Israeli Defence Force), and some, but by no means all, Druze leaders are pro-Zionist, many other Druze see themselves as Syrian and lament the collapse of the former Syria where all religious minorities were accepted as equals. For example, this is the case for the vast majority of Druze living in the Golan Heights, which has since been invaded and occupied by Israel. What is more, Western media reports depict the Druze as a homogenous religious community, but this is far from the case. The Druze are comprised of factions that have opposing positions with regard to “normalisation”, both with the Israeli state and the Al Qaeda regime in Damascus. Some of these factions include the Ahrar al-Jabal Gathering, the Mountain Brigade and the Al-Ulya Forces, the latter two of which are affiliated.[8]

War on Iran

The massacres of Druze in July follow similar massacres of Alawites and Christians by HTS in March.[9] To the outside observer, such appalling violence seems senseless, with no apparent aim. However, US imperialism and its European allies have the ongoing aim of regime change in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was a strong ally of the former Syrian Arab Republic. By destroying Syria, Washington and Brussels punched a major hole in the Axis of Resistance (Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Ansar Allah in Yemen, plus other regional Shia militias in Iraq). It was also a blow aimed at the Russian Federation, Syria’s major ally. Russia could see that US imperialism was coming for it, and, at the invitation of the former Syria, intervened to prevent its overthrow. With the assistance of Iran and Hezbollah, its collapse was staved off for the interim. However, devastating sanctions on Syria hollowed out its state, and when the opportunity presented itself, imperialism re-activated its HTS and Al Qaeda proxies. With Russia using its resources defending itself from NATO’s proxy war via Ukraine, Russia and Iran were not able to prevent Al Qaeda taking Damascus in December last year.

The Israeli state is once again acting as a proxy for US imperialism with the aim of surrounding and eventually taking down Iran, Zionism notwithstanding. While it is true that US imperialism has sought the destruction of Iran’s 1979 revolution for 46 years, now the stakes are even higher. Today, Iran is a central pillar of the non-imperialist BRICS bloc, alongside Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The now 20 member BRICS bloc is building a multipolar world, where the US and its European allies no longer wield arbitrary power – but are invited to take part in a more just and democratic world order. Arguably, the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel in 2023 – jointly coordinated between the IDF and Hamas – were aimed at drawing Iran into a regime change war. No doubt Iran greatly desired an intervention to prevent the genocide of Palestinians, but it knew that if it did, Israel could well use its arsenal of nuclear weapons. This may have led to the deaths of millions across the region.

Socialists are aware that global capitalism will not simply allow BRICS and the Global South to build a rational world. Imperialism would much prefer World War III, which many astute commentators claim has already begun.[10] What is required is a genuine anti-war movement, which is consistent in opposing all facets of imperialist design in every region of the planet. It cannot just focus on defending Palestine, as important as that is. It must oppose imperialist war on Iran, Russia, China and its allies. It must link this to the devastating cost of living crisis afflicting millions of working people in the West. Marxist vanguard parties must help lead the masses to the better world that is long overdue. US/ISRAEL: GET OUT OF SYRIA! DEFEND IRAN! NO WEAPONS FOR ISRAEL, UKRAINE, TAIWAN!

Workers League

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

[1] www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/16/why-did-israel-bomb-syria-a-look-at-the-druze-and-the-violence-in-suwayda (23-07-2025)

[2] www.thecradle.co/articles/syrian-government-linked-forces-withdraw-from-suwayda-as-reports-of-new-atrocities-emerge (23-07-2025)

[3] www.x.com/gidonsaar/status/1946506834937864530 (23-07-2025)

[4] www.thedefensepost.com/2025/07/18/syria-troops-violence-600-dead/ (23-07-2025)

[5] www.x.com/suwayda24/status/1946719736299180123 (23-07-2025)

[6] www.t.me/Marwa_OsmanLB (23-07-2025)

[7] www.t.me/enemywatch (23-07-2025)

[8] www.t.me/VanessaBeeley (23-07-2025)

[9] www.redfireonline.com/2025/03/24/syria-al-qaedas-kristallnacht-on-alawites-and-christians/ (23-07-2025)