"says Ghassan Hamed, a 23-year-old Druze student at Homs University in Western Syria, describing violence that erupted late last month."

"Syrias Druze population, estimated at 700,000, is concentrated around the city of Suwayda in southern Syria and in suburbs south of Damascus such as Sahnaya and nearby Ashrafiyat Sahnaya."

"Syrias Druze population, estimated at 700,000, is concentrated around the city of Suwayda in southern Syria and in suburbs south of Damascus such as Sahnaya and nearby Ashrafiyat Sahnaya."

"Syrias Druze population, estimated at 700,000, is concentrated around the city of Suwayda in southern Syria and in suburbs south of Damascus such as Sahnaya and nearby Ashrafiyat Sahnaya."

"Syrias Druze population, estimated at 700,000, is concentrated around the city of Suwayda in southern Syria and in suburbs south of Damascus such as Sahnaya and nearby Ashrafiyat Sahnaya."

"Families pulled students back to majority-Druze areasSuwayda, Jaramana, Sahnaya. But the violence followed."

"When that failed, the attackers moved toward Dahiya. And the crazy part? This all happened in plain sight of Syrian government forcesThey didnt stop it."

"Gangs of Sunni Islamist youth and former HTS fighters struck checkpoints in Nasser City that had been set up by a combination of forces dispatched by the new government and local Druze militia from the Rijal al-Karama movement."

"In early March 2025, more than 1,000 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia, Tartus and parts of Hamaareas that once formed the heartland of the Assad regime and its Baathist power basefollowing coordinated Islamist raids and mass executions in villages left exposed after the fall of the government."

"In early March 2025, more than 1,000 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia, Tartus and parts of Hamaareas that once formed the heartland of the Assad regime and its Baathist power basefollowing coordinated Islamist raids and mass executions in villages left exposed after the fall of the government."

"In early March 2025, more than 1,000 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia, Tartus and parts of Hamaareas that once formed the heartland of the Assad regime and its Baathist power basefollowing coordinated Islamist raids and mass executions in villages left exposed after the fall of the government."

"If youre sitting in Damascus right now and want to show youre serious about reform, protecting the Druze isnt optionalits non-negotiable, Cooper told Moment by phone from Jerusalem."

"Yet minority advocates say the violence casts doubt on these prospects. They point to Syrias failure to control armed factionsespecially those aligned with former jihadist networks like HTS. Against this backdrop, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Rev. Johnnie Moore, founder of the Congress of Christian Leaders, are preparing to visit Damascus at the invitation of the Syrian foreign minister. If youre sitting in Damascus right now and want to show youre serious about reform, protecting the Druze isnt optionalits non-negotiable, Cooper told Moment by phone from Jerusalem. While the Cooper-Moore trip is not government sponsored, it follows Trumps May 13 meeting at the Riyadh summit with President Ahmed al-Sharaa. That encounter marked the first meeting between the leaders of the United States and Syria in 25 years. Trump pledged to lift all sanctions on Syria and urged President al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel."

"A sense of vulnerability had already taken hold before the October 7, 2023, attacks. That August, a quadruple murder in Abu Snan (in the Northern District)which included the killing of 53-year-old former Border Police officer and mayoral candidate Ghazi Saabshook the community."

"Natanya Muradchai, a Syrian Jewish exile in Oslo, sees the Druze as a community caught between worldsand between governments."