Netanyahu demands southern Syria remain 'demilitarized,' vows to protect Druze
Bedouin forces affiliated with the Syrian government say they are preparing a new attack on the Druze despite a recent ceasefire announcement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on 17 July that Israel will continue using military force in Syria to uphold what he called Israel’s two “red lines”: preventing the militarization of southern Syria and protecting the country’s Druze population in Suwayda.
In a video statement released one day after Israeli forces launched widespread strikes on Syrian military and government targets, including near the Presidential palace in Damascus, Netanyahu declared, “We have set a clear policy: demilitarizing the area south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights to the Druze mountains, is one [red] line. The second line [is] protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze in the Druze mountains.”
Netanyahu directly accused Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government of violating both principles. “It sent an army south of Damascus, into the area that should be demilitarized, and it began to massacre the Druze. We could not accept this in any way,” he said.
The Israeli leader emphasized that the recent ceasefire declared by the Syrian government — which included the withdrawal of government troops from contested areas — was not the result of diplomacy. “It was achieved through force. Not through requests, not through pleas — through force,” Netanyahu stated. “We acted, and we will continue to act as necessary.”
The Israeli military has not released a full account of the targets struck, but regional media reported heavy bombardments across southern Syria, including near the cities of Daraa and Suwayda. The strikes follow a week of intensifying violence in the region, particularly in Suwayda province, home to a significant Druze population.
Despite the Syrian government’s ceasefire announcement, conflict on the ground has continued.
A Syrian Bedouin commander told Reuters on Thursday that Bedouin fighters have launched a new offensive in Suwayda against Druze forces. The commander clarified that the truce does not apply to them, only to government troops. He claimed the offensive aimed to secure the release of Bedouins allegedly detained by Druze armed groups during recent clashes.
The clashes began on Sunday after pro-Damascus Bedouin militants set up a checkpoint on the Damascus–Suwayda highway, where they robbed and brutally beat a young Druze man, triggering a series of retaliatory attacks and government responses.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), nearly 250 people have been killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday, “including at least 21 civilians extrajudicially executed" by Syrian government-aligned forces.
SOHR added that the humanitarian situation in Suwayda has “deteriorated dramatically.”
Video footage and images have shown Syrian government troops making sectarian threats against Druze, kidnapping unarmed Druze elders (clerics), and cutting off their traditional mustaches.
Photos have also shown the bodies of unarmed clerics after being executed by government forces and allied Bedouin forces and militias.