


The United States is seeking to construct a humanitarian corridor for Israel to cut through Syrian territory and connect with the embattled Druze community.
U.S. government authorities are negotiating a deal for the project, which would extend from the Israeli border into the city of Sweida, where Druze have been exchanging violent attacks with Bedouin militias, a U.S. official and two Israeli officials reportedly told Axios.
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The proposed corridor could alleviate struggling Druze communities engulfed in the conflict.
Druze people are a tight-knit, highly insulated, and ethnoreligious community spread across multiple nations in the Middle East but heavily based in Syria. They are often identifiable by the five-color flag and star symbols representing their faith.
The Druze communities in Syria, a religious minority, remain embroiled in a blood feud with nearby Bedouins, a loosely connected tribal group that inhabits a patchwork of territory from Morocco to Oman.
When the two groups began killing each other in July after Druze leaders accused Bedouins of beating and robbing a member of their community, Druze militia began to take up arms, and a full-scale conflict erupted in Sweida.
The Syrian government dispatched military forces to the area, ostensibly to restore peace, but videos of state-affiliated soldiers harassing and humiliating Druze led to outcry from fellow Druze communities in Israel.
Israeli leaders immediately expressed solidarity with the Druze, a group often touted as a model minority in the Jewish nation. The Israel Defense Forces launched a shocking barrage of strikes on Syrian government infrastructure, including the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Palace.
The U.S. helped broker a ceasefire to end the conflict between Israel and Syria, but Druze in Syria continue to battle Bedouins.

The proposed corridor would hypothetically allow humanitarian aid and safe passage between Druze communities in Israel and Syria, stabilizing the region.
However, the Syrian government is reportedly tepid about the project. It’s worried that Druze could use the corridor to smuggle weapons into Sweida.
The Trump administration is attempting to more broadly normalize relations between Israel and the new government of Syria.
UNDERSTANDING THE ENIGMATIC DRUZE COMMUNITY AT THE HEART OF SYRIAN UNREST
Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa said he is seeking to reimagine his nation as a secular, liberalized democracy following the downfall of the Assad regime.
Tom Barrack, U.S. envoy to Syria, will meet with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al Shaibani in Paris on Wednesday, according to the outlet.