Israeli Druze declare general strike, call to prepare to cross the border to help Syrian Druze

The rapidly deteriorating situation of the Syrian Druze in the southern province of Suwayda (Sweida) has caused the leadership of Israel’s Druze community to take unprecedented steps, as its spiritual leader, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, called on the Druze to prepare to cross the border to help their brethren in Syria.

“Members of the Druze community are flocking to the Golan Heights en masse,” Army Radio reported on Wednesday, after dozens had already illegally crossed the border the day before.

The latest reports suggest that over 248 people were killed in the fighting between government-affiliated forces and Druze militias so far, including at least a dozen Druze civilians who were summarily executed.

“A horrifying and brutal massacre is taking place at this very moment in Jabal al-Druze in southern Syria. Innocent civilians – women, children, and the elderly – are being murdered in cold blood. Regrettably, the IDF and the Government of Israel, despite their explicit commitments, are taking no concrete action to stop the killings,” Tarif declared in a harshly worded statement.

“This marks a deep and painful rupture” in the alliance between Druze and the State of Israel, Tarif added, highlighting the heroic sacrifices of the Druze IDF soldiers over the past two years, “in the name of shared values of defense and security.”

He added that he expected Israel to “enter the fray unequivocally” to support “our brothers being slaughtered in Syria – just as we stand at the front for the sake of the state.”

“The community's leadership is calling on all Druze individuals to prepare, by all necessary means, to cross the border to assist their brothers.”

“If decisive action is not taken, the crisis between us and the State of Israel will deepen in a dangerously unprecedented way. Silence and standing idly by are no longer an option,” Tarif threatened.

On Tuesday, Druze Israelis staged protests across northern Israel, in some instances burning tires and blocking roads.

מחאות באזור הצפון של בני העדה הדרוזית • המשטרה: כביש 6 נחסם לשני הכיוונים באזור מחלף אליקים@Yael_Hadad97
תיעוד: דוברות המשטרה pic.twitter.com/kXa51XID84

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) July 15, 2025

The dramatic events in Syria even necessitated a break in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial testimony on Wednesday, as he exited for around 20 minutes when his Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman arrived at the court to speak with him.

“I have to see him immediately, he doesn’t usually come here,” Netanyahu told the judges.

According to Army Radio, Netanyahu received an update about the situation in Syria as well as an emergency meeting between Tarif, Druze local council heads, and Members of Knesset from various parties.

The report added that among the main concerns discussed in the meeting was a mass breach of the Syrian border, or even the desertion of Druze soldiers from the IDF.

The military and the Border Police meanwhile reinforced their troops on the border to prevent more illegal border crossings, after dozens of Druze had entered Syrian territory near the city of Majdal Shams on Tuesday.

The situation on the ground in southwestern Syria remains unclear. Wafaa al-Shaar, an Israeli Druze activist, told Ynet News that she hadn’t heard from her relatives in the area amid the fighting.

“There’s guerrilla warfare in the streets – the situation is extremely difficult on every level,” she said.

Al-Shaar warned that the situation could deteriorate into a full-blown massacre of the Druze community, citing a recent incident where regime forces allegedly slaughtered an entire family of 15 people in their home.

Local news outlet Sweida24 said on Wednesday morning that Suwayda and nearby towns were under heavy artillery and mortar fire.

According to Israeli Druze activist Khalifa Khalifa, who cited local reports from Suwayda, “The sounds of intense explosions are incessant, and can be heard clearly in all areas.”

He reported that government forces were breaking into houses and looting them, in addition to “executions and massacres of civilians.”

“The healthcare system is collapsing – there is a shortage of equipment, medicines, and medical teams who are unable to reach out for help,” Khalifa wrote on his Telegram channel.

Suwayda’s Druze community is split between several spiritual leaders. One faction, led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, in the past vocally opposed an arrangement with the new, Islamist-dominated central government, and is now calling on the U.S., Israel, and other Arab countries for help.

In a Facebook post they called on U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Saudi Crown Prince and the King of Jordan: “Save Suwayda.”

“Our people are being murdered in cold blood, and the killer does not distinguish between young and old. The mask has been removed from the face of the ruling junta. The international community bears humanitarian and moral responsibility. We call on the Sunnis to clearly oppose what is happening to their Syrian brothers. We cannot live under a regime that knows only how to rule with iron and fire.”

However, Sheikh Yusuf Jarboua, leader of another faction, told the Saudi al-Hadath channel that the Druze do not want Israel’s intervention, calling it “a double-edged sword that has caused damage to the Druze, just as it has harmed the general security of the Syrian state.”

“Our message to the Syrian state is that we are Syrians. Our affiliation has always been and will remain with our national state, Syria. Our capital is Damascus. We have no alternatives or connections with any other place,” added Jarboua, who advocates reconciliation with the new regime.