There is widespead concern that Syria might break up

The ceasefire brokered by the US, Turkey, and Jordan appears to have ended a week of violence in Syria's southern province of Sweida where Druze militiamen battled Sunni Bedouin tribesmen bolstered by Sunni factional militiamen from elsewhere. Clashes erupted on the 13th following the Bedouin kidnapping of a Druze merchant travelling to Damascus. The number of people killed in Sweida is 940, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and scores were injured. When the Syrian army began to intervene mid-week, Israel bombed the defence ministry in Damascus, fired missiles near the presidential palace and struck Syrian troops entering Sweida. Israel's involvement was not welcomed by Arab, Turkish and US mediators. Even Donald Trump expressed rare criticism of Israel.

Syrian Druze constitute the largest Druze community in the world and the third largest minority in that country. The monotheistic faith evolved from Shiism in the 11th century and has long been a separate religion. As Druze have been persecuted for centuries, they have, as a matter of survival, adopted the practice of taqiya, dissimulation, by appearing to merge with the local population while remaining Druze.

Druze number about 700,000 and constitute about 3 per cent of Syria's population.

While they are concentrated in the Druze majority province of Sweida, Druze have also settled around Damascus and elsewhere in the country. About 300,000 Druze live in Lebanon and a small number in Jordan.

The Druze have played important roles in the independence struggles of both Syria and Lebanon and have assumed active political careers in these states since then. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt has followed the example of his father and acted as a kingmaker in Lebanon. Respected as a voice for Druze in the region, he condemned Israel’s intervention in Sweida and convened a meeting of Lebanese Druze leaders with the aim of countering possible spillover of Syrian Druze-Sunni violence. Another prominent Arab Druze, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, joined his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan to demand an urgent end to Israel’s involvement.

While Syrian Druze and Bedouin have sparred for decades, the latest bout of violence did not begin as a sectarian confrontation but over farmland, a traditional issue. After Bashar al-Assad assumed power in 2000, the government initiated economic and agricultural reforms. Farm subsidies were gradually withdrawn and restrictions on water usage and land access were imposed. While Druze villagers protested Bedouin farmers did not, generating hostility against their community. However, Druze and Bedouin farmers came together to protest over neglect by the government due to the lack of services and security.

Following Assad 's ouster in December last year, Druze have been divided over their approach to the Sunni fundamentalist Hay ‘at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government. Some Druze factions have tried to negotiate a new relationship with Damascus, others resist merging their militias with the country's armed forces, and many reject the presence of Syrian security personnel and soldiers in Sweida.

Meanwhile, Druze and Bedouin antagonism to the government increased. Bedouin were angered by the appointment of Druze Amjad Bahr as agriculture minister, while Druze did not see this as providing them with sufficient influence in Damascus. In the absence of firm state control since the takeover by HTS under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, there have been frequent clashes between Bedouin and Druze, who insist that Sweida must enjoy autonomy, and security must be provided by Druze militia factions — both demands rejected by Bedouin.

Syria's southernmost, Sweida is a strategic province with a population of 540,400, 91 per cent Druze, according to the UN. The Druze demand for autonomy amounts to a major challenge to the government at a time the northeast, 25 per cent of Syrian territory, is ruled by Syrian Kurds who also seek self-rule within Syria. There is concern that Syria — which with Iraq makes up the Eastern Arab heartland — could fracture. This has been the goal of Israel since its creation by war 77 years ago. In a bid to weaken Damascus grip on Syrian territory, Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has warned against deploying the Syrian army in the southern border regions. Last December, Israeli troops invaded and occupied the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 agreement with Syria.

Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed the territory, which has a Druze population of 20,000, most of whom retain Syrian citizenship. About 130,000 Druze live in Israel, have Israeli citizenship and many have served in the Israeli army and the Knesset. Israeli Druze protested in 2018 after adopting a law defining Israel as the "nation state" of the Jewish people. Druze, who count for 1.6 per cent and Palestinian Arabs 21 per cent, cried foul as this law transformed them into "second-class citizens." The normally loyal Druze protested in the streets. Although Druze are prominent in literature, politics, business, and the military in Israel their voices fell on deaf ears.

Druze have emigrated to the US, UK, Europe, and Latin America although many retain communal connections and an active interest in the affairs of this conflicted region. One of the founders in 1968 of American Near East Refugee Aid, ANERA, was Jim Sams (Abu Samra) whose family comes from the 12th century Lebanese Chouf Mountain Druze village of Baakleen. The most high-profile Druze on the global scene today is British-born international lawyer Amal Alamuddin who is married to US actor George Clooney. The couple have founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice which operated in 40 countries in defence of free speech and women's rights.