Damascus Fears a Druze Attack in Sweida with Israeli Support
Al-Taj News – A Syrian government official reported that Damascus fears armed Druze groups in Sweida Governorate may launch an attack on government forces in the coming days, accusing Israel of encouraging and supporting the operation.
The official told the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post that information coming from Sweida indicates the possibility that armed groups are preparing to carry out an operation against Syrian government forces, explaining that the mobilization of these groups along the contact lines has raised Damascus’s concerns about renewed fighting in southern Syria.
He added that Druze figures in the governorate recently announced publicly that an operation to retake Druze villages could begin soon.
According to the official, Syrian officials believe that any operation that may be carried out by Druze forces would receive Israeli support and encouragement from Tel Aviv.
The official pointed to an intensification of Israeli aerial reconnaissance over Sweida and the surrounding areas, alongside an increase in reconnaissance flights over Damascus and southern Syria. He also claimed that an Israeli helicopter landed in Sweida and delivered large quantities of weapons and ammunition.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel has repeatedly expressed its security concerns regarding developments in southern Syria and sought to prevent hostile forces from establishing a presence near its borders, including inside the buffer zone established in 1974 following the Yom Kippur War.
In contrast, Damascus considers Israeli military operations and the continued presence of Israeli forces on Syrian territory a violation of its sovereignty.
Tensions surrounding Sweida began to escalate during the past year, as clashes erupted on July 13, 2025, in southern Syria between the Syrian army and Bedouin forces on one side, and Druze forces in Sweida Governorate on the other, with the Druze groups organized under the Sweida Military Council.
