Israel's Druze spiritual leadership called on its community to prepare to assist their Syrian counterparts “by all means necessary,” calling for a general strike and national days of rage and mourning across Israel, in a statement published Wednesday.
The statement, signed by Sheikh Mowafak Tarif, came after the recent escalation of attacks on Syrian Druze communities.
“Regrettably, despite explicit commitments, the IDF and the Israeli government have taken no meaningful action to stop the killing,” the statement read.
“The leadership is calling on all members of the community to prepare by all necessary means to cross the border in order to assist their slaughtered brethren in Syria.”
If Israel does not act, the Druze will take charge of the situation
Tarif wrote that the community had appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with the heads of the security establishment, to conduct aerial strikes against Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's regime.
“If decisive action is not taken, the crisis between us and the State of Israel will dangerously and unprecedentedly deepen,” the statement read.
"Silence and standing idly by are no longer an option.”
Clashes between and Syrian forces and Druze continue
As of Wednesday morning, clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed just hours after a ceasefire was announced.
Local news outlet Sweida24 said the city and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire early on Wednesday, while Syria's defence ministry, in a statement carried by state news agency SANA, blamed outlaw groups in Sweida for breaching the truce.
The fighting started based on a small-scale dispute between Druze-Syrian and Bedouin-Syrian tribes, but eventually erupted into much larger clashes between those tribes, leading to approximately 30 and 100 deaths.
Dozens of Druze-Israeli civilians managed to infiltrate Syrian territory from the area of the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the North, the IDF confirmed on Tuesday.
The Druze-Israelis have said they infiltrated the area to help their Druze-Syrian relatives and friends who, in recent days, have been engaged in gunfights with Syrian-Bedouins and some forces of the new Syrian government.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.