Israel Syria

In a conversation with Jonathan Spyer, expert on Syria, we explore the latest flare-ups of violence, Israel's strategic role, and the challenges of reintegrating a fractured nation.

This meeting comes ahead of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer's meeting with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Paris.

The slaughter of the Druze in Syria may not trend. It may not lead the news. But it matters. And Israel's response shows what it means to refuse to let others suffer alone.

While strategic considerations were still in play, the heart of the decision lay in defending the extended family of Israel’s own Druze—a gesture shaped as much by kinship as by security.

A Syrian military official said correspondence with the US had led Damascus to believe it could deploy forces to Sweida without Israel confronting them.

Israeli-Druze group crosses border into Syria • Netanyahu tells pope hostage talks progressing • Hamas claims it proposed releasing all hostages • IDF confirms deaths of four terrorists in Gaza

“The Israeli entity resorted to a wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities,” Shaara said the situation was easing with the intervention of the US, Arab, and Turkish mediators.

Rubio said that steps must be taken by "all parties to deliver on commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do."

Israel’s intervention escalated with more airstrikes and officials' comments, raising questions about what might come next and if the limited intervention will help the Druze.

Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city on Tuesday following two days of clashes, the first time government forces have deployed to Sweida since the new government took power.

Arab media reports that Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, while Israeli officials say he is in the US with Netanyahu.