[Want even more content from FPM? Sign up for FPM+ to unlock exclusive series, virtual town-halls with our authors, and more—now for just $3.99/month. Click here to sign up.]

After the IDF went into action to stop Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s army from continuing its bloodbath in Sweida, by bombing 160 sites in Sweida itself, and in Damascus, hitting the army headquarters and a place close to the presidential palace by way of a warning, the Syrian dictator pulled his troops back and declared, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, that he was the true “protector of the Druze.” Not many Druze in Syria, and none in Israel, believe him. The latest report on how the Druze are reeling from attacks by al-Sharaa’s army can be found here: “Bodies and looted homes: Syria’s Druze reeling after Sweida bloodshed,” Reuters, July 18, 2025:

One elderly man had been shot in the head in his living room. Another in his bedroom. The body of a woman lay in the street. After days of bloodshed in Syria’s Druze city of Sweida, survivors emerged on Thursday to collect and bury the scores of dead found across the city.

A ceasefire announced on Wednesday night brought an end to ferocious fighting between Druze militia and government forces sent to the city to quell clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters.

The violence worsened sharply after the arrival of government forces, according to accounts to Reuters by a dozen residents of Sweida, two reporters on the ground and a monitoring group.

Residents described friends and neighbors being shot at close range in their homes or in the streets. They said the killings were carried out by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and the insignia on them….

The army and government militias sent to Sweida were not just intent on stopping the fighting between the Druze and the Bedouin. Al-Sharaa hoped by this show of force to persuade the Druze to incorporate their own militia into the national army, something that so far the Druze have refused to do.

Syrian Information Minister Hamzah al-Mustafa, in comments to Reuters after this story was published, said the authorities were “aware of the reports concerning serious violations during the recent events in Sweida, including acts that may constitute atrocities and sectarian incitement.”

The government was “aware of the reports” of such atrocities by army troops, but did not immediately demand that those troops leave Sweida, as it ought to have done. That happened only after, and as a result of, the IDF attacks both in Sweida and in Damascus.

“The Syrian Government strongly condemns all such acts and reaffirms its absolute rejection of sectarian violence in all its forms,” Mustafa said….

Then why has the Syrian government yet to arrest a single one of the Sunnis, including members of the army, who killed at least 1,500 members (some Alawites claim that 40,000 were killed) of the Alawite minority in their stronghold of Latakia last March? Why has the government yet to round up any of the Islamic jihadis who have been killing Christians in Damascus an Aleppo, and who on June 22 organized the suicide bombing of the ancient Greek Orthodox church of Mar Elias, killing 25 and wounding 69?

In a video statement early on Thursday, Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said that protecting the rights of Druze was among his priorities and blamed “outlaw groups” seeking to inflame tensions for any crimes against civilians.

Al-Sharaa can blame “outlaw groups” for all these “crimes against civilians,” but the Druze themselves lay the blame for the killings on soldiers of the Syrian army, whom they witnessed wearing their uniforms as they slaughtered Druze civilians. These are the soldiers in the army that Al-Sharaa directs.

He vowed to hold accountable those responsible for violations against the Druze, but did not say whether government forces were responsible.

Since he refuses to admit to what is crystal clear to the Druze, that Syrian soldiers committed these atrocities against their people, why should they put any faith in his absurd assertions that he — and no one else, by which he means the IDF — will be their ‘protector”?

The government’s statement on Wednesday on a ceasefire for the region said a fact-finding mission would investigate the “crimes, violations and breaches that happened, determine who was responsible and compensate those affected… as quickly as possible.”

Do you think al-Sharaa’s investigators will dare to accuse the army of being responsible for the atrocities suffered by the Druze? Isn’t it more likely that they will conclude more or less as follows: “The fighting in Sweida was confused, there were casualties on all sides that were the result of the Druze-Bedouin clashes, and the Syrian army had intervened only to impose a peace but, unfortunately, after it had done so, ‘clashes flared up again,’ and the army has returned to Sweida to yet again broker a ceasefire. Unfortunately, our southern neighbor insists on intervening to promote its own aims, that have nothing to do with the wellbeing of the Druze people. I am speaking of Israel, which wants to fracture our beloved country. It is our government’s priority to safeguard the Druze, just as we do with all of Syria’s minorities.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a rights monitor that documented violations throughout the civil war and has continued its work, said on Friday it had verified 321 people killed in Sweida, including medical personnel, women and children….

Other reports give a figure of 600 dead, almost all of them Druze civilians.

Ryan Maarouf of local media outlet Suwayda24 told Reuters on Thursday he had found a family of 12 killed in one house, including naked women, an elderly man and two young girls.

It was not possible to verify who killed the people in these cases.

These victims are almost all Druze. If we are to believe the reports of eyewitnesses, the killers were almost all army soldiers. That would make sense. The Sunni conscripts do not regard the Druze as real Muslims, nor do the Druze see themselves as Muslims, so there is open season on these Infidels who have the gall to fight the Sunni Bedouin and, what’s more, to refuse to let the Syrian state incorporate the Druze militia into the national army.

Now the Syrian army is intent on returning to Sweida to stop the Druze-Bedouin clashes that have flared up again. Al-Sharaa proclaims himself the “protector of the Druze.” The real protector of the Druze, the IDF, has given the Syrians 48 hours to stop the fighting, after which time the Israelis may take over to protect the Druze and to make sure that the Syrian army withdraws back to Damascus. The Israelis have two goals in Syria: first, to protect the Druze who are “the brothers of our brothers,” the Israeli Druze who have been such loyal citizens and effective fighters in the IDF; second, to make sure that from Damascus to the Druze territory on the border with Israel become and remains demilitarized. Within a few days, we will know if Israel is on the road to achieving these goals, or whether it will have to attack more Syrian army sites to make sure al-Sharaa understands what he must do.