Syrian Bloodshed in Sweida and Israel’s Insidious Agenda
Back in 2013, Israel began working on a project to expand its so-called “buffer zone” deep into southern Syria and for it to eventually seize more territory in the illegally occupied Golan Heights.
The invasion of the Druze majority city of Sweida, by forces aligned with the Syrian government, opened the stage for further Israeli land-grabs in the south of the country and all at the expense of Syria’s civilian population. Yet, the dangerous escalation could also breed new opportunities in the long run.
While some may find the ongoing bloodshed in southern Syria confusing, it is rather simple to understand when the events transpiring are put into the proper context and the sectarian talking points are exposed for what they are.
Taking advantage of a bloodbath in southern Syria, Israel has swept in to pursue its own expansionist agenda in the region, launching airstrikes that have killed both Syrian security forces and civilians alike. Meanwhile, the debate rages on over who is truly fighting who and for what reasons.
How Did This Start?
The internecine conflict began earlier this week, after a group of Bedouin Arab militants kidnapped a Druze trader who was travelling on the road to Damascus, on July 11.
These groups also reportedly carried out an armed assault against Druze forces at a checkpoint in the Sweida province. The incident led to an armed response from Druze militia forces, followed by a string of kidnappings committed by Bedouin fighters.
By Sunday, this had escalated into gun battles in the streets between Druze and Bedouin militias. In response to this, groups of soldiers belonging to the government in Damascus were sent south, claiming to be acting under orders to de-escalate tensions and negotiate a truce.
Instead, the local Druze population reported that the Syrian Army was siding with the Bedouin militiamen. The next event to be reported were clashes between Druze militias and the Syrian government forces.
Suddenly there then came a larger mobilization of tribal forces, alongside al-Qaeda linked fighters that decided to join in the battle against the Druze minority groups armed forces. Videos began emerging, from eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, of militants wielding arms and jumping on pick up trucks, heading towards Sweida.
Footage was also published of the capture of an elderly Druze man, who was blindfolded and subjected to sectarian insults by militants sporting Daesh patches on their uniforms.
Next, came a larger mobilization of Syrian government forces from Damascus, which the authorities claimed was geared towards safeguarding civilians and de-escalating tensions. Yet, it soon became clear that they were acting on orders to capture the City of Sweida and defeat the Druze Military Council militia that had entered the fight.
It wasn’t long before horror stories began emerging of sectarian violence impacting Druze civilians. Although many claims have not been verified, evidence was produced that confirmed the murder of civilians, including women and children.
Many of these reports do appear to match the kinds of field executions that took place a few months ago against the Alawite minority sect in Syria’s coastal regime, where thousands of civilians were murdered by Syrian government-aligned militants.
At the same time, the narrative adopted by local Syrian media aligned with the government in Damascus claims that Druze separatists started the fight, both with the Syrian Armed Forces and Bedouin clans. While it is unclear who started the violence between the army and Druze forces, it is clear that Bedouin militiamen were the first to initiate the conflict.
There are indeed groups of Druze separatists, some of whom are aligned with Israel. However, the majority of the Syrian Druze population along with their leadership are opposed to the Israelis, favoring an agreement with the government in Damascus instead of operating under the offered “protection” of the Israeli military.
One of the most divisive figures in the Druze spiritual leadership is Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who has been making demands of the Syrian leadership that some have claimed are aimed at granting sectarian concessions, although this is a disputed interpretation. Most of the Druze leaders in Syria have repeatedly sought to strike deals with Syria’s government that is led by Ahmed al-Shara’a.
Then there are local armed groups from whom separatist sentiments are expressed, normally these militants fall under the banner of what is known as the Karama groups.
How Israel has Used The Bloodshed to Its Favor
Soon after the Syrian Army and its allied militia forces – who travelled from places like Idlib, Damascus and Homs to fight – reached the outskirts of the city of Sweida, Israel began launching airstrikes against their positions.
According to Axios News, the authorities in Damascus had even coordinated the movement of their tanks towards Sweida with Israel, as a precautionary measure to demonstrate they would not pose a threat to the Israelis. The Israeli military decided to strike the Syrian Army forces anyway.
Eventually the Israeli bombing campaign in southern Syria escalated and over 100 airstrikes were committed within 24 hours, leading up to the dramatic bombardment of the Syrian ministry of defence building in Damascus. Initial reports estimated that at least 700 Syrian government aligned fighters were wiped out by Israel’s airstrikes.
In order to make sense of what is currently transpiring, it is essential to understand that although there is technically a government in Damascus, it does not have much control over the country at all. Instead, local militias control areas throughout Syria and hold more power than the government’s security forces in many cases.
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Also, when we look at the new Syrian Army, it is more akin to a collection of militias than a regular military, as the Syrian Arab Army under the previous government was dismantled. This army doesn’t have access to many long range missile systems, it possesses no aircraft, no navy and has very limited experience.
Therefore, the Syrian Army relies upon its allied militant groups who are composed of often hardline sectarian fighters who adhere to an al-Qaeda type mentality. Many of these groups openly brandish Daesh flags and sport Al-Qaeda emblems. They are, honestly put, extremist sectarian death squads that often openly advocate for the slaughter of Shia’s, Christians, Alawites, Kurds, Druze and other Sunnis who do not adhere to their Salafist ideology.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is the Party of Ahmed al-Shara’a, is cut from the same exact cloth itself. HTS has long been a Takfiri group, which means that it believes in its power to determine that fellow Muslims and minority religious groups who don’t follow their interpretation of Islam, are disbelievers who should be killed or forced to “repent”.
Why this is all relevant, is because viewing the ongoing tensions in southern Syria as the “government” against “the Druze” is totally inaccurate. And this is where Israel comes in.
Back in 2013, Israel began working on a project to expand its so-called “buffer zone” deep into southern Syria and for it to eventually seize more territory in the illegally occupied Golan Heights, which it formally annexed in 1981.
In order to do this, the Israelis drew up a number of plans, with the help of both Jordan and the United States. One major issue on Israel’s agenda was to back Druze separatists to carve out a pro-Israeli Druze ethno-State in southern Syria.
Also in 2013, Tel Aviv began backing some dozen Syrian opposition groups in south Syria, most of whom were tied to al-Qaeda, Daesh or both. One of those groups was Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch that was actively fighting alongside Daesh at the time, before falling out with the extremist group later.
Jabhat al-Nusra would later be rebranded as HTS, but back during the days when it was receiving Israel medical, financial and military support, it was also busy committing sectarian massacres against the Druze in Syria.
For Israel it was a simple formula, back the strongest groups fighting the Syrian State and those who were killing minorities, thus dividing the Syrian population, then also make inroads with the persecuted minority groups to use them against their own countrymen too.
On top of Israel’s agenda to annex more territory from Syria under the banner of its “Greater Israel Project”, it is also launching airstrikes against Syrian government forces and their allies for two other reasons. The first is to ensure Syria remains militarily divided and crippled, while the second is to appease the Israeli Druze population.
It was reported on Wednesday that over 1,000 Israeli Druze had crossed into Syria, on their own, in order to fight for the Syrian Druze population in Sweida. For Israel’s Druze population, this issue is non-negotiable, they demand the Israeli military’s intervention.
Although the Druze minority in occupied Palestine are technically second class citizens, they still serve in the Israeli military and hold key positions within it. So for Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, when he sees that Israeli Druze are burning tires in the streets and protesting in favour of intervention, he understands that action should be taken in order to avoid turmoil within Israel itself.
This is where things could potentially backfire for Tel Aviv, because if they end up getting bogged down in Syria at some point, it may cause a major military strain. However, so far the Syrian government has allowed Israel to steal its territory, occupy its villages, kill hundreds of fighters and civilians, while destroying its strategic military arsenal.
The Syrian leadership decided it would hand over its national sovereignty in exchange for becoming a puppet regime of the US, UK, EU and to some extent Turkiye also. It has cracked down on the Palestinian resistance inside the country, blocked weapons flowing to Hezbollah in Lebanon and branded the Iranian led Axis of Resistance as its only enemy.
It is important to understand that the Syrian leadership decided to exchange economic relief for all of its national pride and sovereignty, setting up an equation where it is forced to follow the dictates of its Western allies, all of which place Israel as their regional priority. Therefore, everytime that Ahmed al-Shara’a steps slightly out of line, his men are killed and Damascus is subjected to bombardment.
The HTS government established ties with Israel within three days of capturing Damascus, since then it has worked on “security coordination” and even participated in normalisation talks. Syria’s national media agency, SANA, even opened up a Hebrew language webpage, and Israeli journalists are invited to the nation’s capital. The body of an Israeli soldier captured in 1982, was handed over to Israel. The belongings of the infamous Israeli spy Eli Cohen were also returned as a good will gesture.
In other words, up until this moment the Syrian State has bowed down to Israel at every turn and accepted a slave to master relationship. Truthfully, Damascus only has two options; full capitulation and the relinquishing of its sovereignty, as it has been doing; or resistance that will probably result in an Israeli decapitation strike on its leadership, followed by war.
A war with Israel could be the only route to reviving Syria as a nation, it will prove extremely costly. Ultimately, the Israelis are not in the position to fight a long war with Syria, especially considering how drained their military is and the multitude of fronts that they are currently fighting on. Yet, this appears to be an extremely unlikely outcome.
The only reason why Ahmed al-Shara’a would decide to take retaliatory action against Israel, is in the event that his own allied militant forces become so enraged over his inaction against Tel Aviv’s unprovoked aggression that they threaten his rule.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.