Alawites to the grave; Christians to Beirut.
— War slogan of anti-Assad militants
As this article was written, Syria experienced the worst days of violence since Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—formerly the al-Nusra Front of al-Qaeda—took power from President Bashar al-Assad.
Friday, March 7, 2025, is the date it may be said a genocide began in earnest in Syria. Reports published on social media and accompanied by gruesome videos—filmed by the killers themselves—indicate hundreds, if not thousands, of Syrians (mostly Alawites, but also Christians) were killed in sectarian violence.
According to witnesses interviewed by The Grayzone, “most of the perpetrators were foreign militants; Uyghurs, Chechens and Uzbeks affiliated with HTS, and only a small percentage were Syrians. Following the downfall of Assad, the HTS-led government absorbed foreign jihadists into its military and appointed some to senior roles.”
In the early hours of Monday, March 9, 2025, an Alawite friend in Damascus sent me this message after not responding to a text the night before:
“Dear Dan. I’m sorry. Was broken. When [I] called a friend’s phone in Latakia. To be answered by a jihadist. Telling me that he killed her. Offering me the same fate of my friend. I am sorry I didn’t reply to your call. I think I had a panic attack. Breathing seems very hard now.”
My friend asked if I thought the jihadist was lying or whether her friend could still be alive. I said I prayed she was alive. Before noon, my friend wrote again, enclosing a photo of her friend, dead on the floor of her home, next to another dead woman. They were shot at close range. The accompanying message read: “She’s gone Dan. That’s her in the pink pajamas. I just had some hope. Her name was Nagham. I hope she will be in a better place than Syria.”
She sent me grisly videos, which the killers had posted on social media:
There are many more, but my heart can’t take it anymore.
Please, help us. They want to exterminate the Alawites, that’s what they’re saying.
We are now fleeing in the forests.
Please, I’m sending this to you. If they find out, they will kill me and my family.
Please, we want peace.
I want to see my kidnapped brother.
I want to live in safety with my friends.
We are not remnants of the regime.
The forests, however, were not safe as HTS forces, in an effort to kill those fleeing, burned entire woods to cut off escape. At the time of writing, my new pen pal was alive.
While there is scant reporting on the massacres in the Western press, the Greek City Times reported:
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Friday that more than 225 people have been killed since Thursday. However, this is believed to be a gross underreporting, with activists on the ground, such as Coast Youth Forum, believing the death toll could be as high as 1,800…
Syria’s new regime, led by so-called transitional president Ahmad al-Sharaa, has for months been massacring the Alawite minority, as well as Christians, under the guise of eliminating remnants of the former Assad dictatorship…
The latest massacres mark a sharp escalation though, with disturbing videos seen by Greek City Times showing the execution of civilians, women, children and the elderly. . .
One video shows the Turkish-backed jihadists desecrating a Christian icon in Tartus. The militant says, “Our guardian is Allah, and you have no guardian,” accusing Christians of idol worship.
The number of those murdered in what is clearly a genocidal campaign appears higher than the official figures. Greek European Union Minister Nikolas Farantouris, who spent two days in Damascus during the weekend of violence, reported:
Reliable data indicate 7,000 Christians and Alawites slaughtered and unprecedented atrocities against civilians…communities with a millennial presence in this region are at risk of extinction.
The new Islamic regime is leading Syria into an Islamic state and is claiming that it cannot control the paramilitaries, and the gangs associated with them who attack innocent civilians.
A week later, the Telegram channel Syrian Christians posted an interview of Syrian actor Bashar Ismail with Sky News, where he estimated 22,000 individuals (Alawites and Christians) had been killed since March 7.
As Syrian Christians noted, if this figure is correct, it would exceed the entirety of civilians killed in Syria between 2018 and 2024, more than the annual number of civilians killed in 2011, 2016 and 2017, and roughly equal to the annual number of civilians killed in Syria in 2012 and 2015!
In addition to those killed, it is estimated 200,000 civilians were displaced.
Three Patriarchs of the Syrian Christian Churches (Syriac Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and Melkite Catholic) released a joint statement on March 8, stating:
In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children. Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted—scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people.
The Christian Churches, while strongly condemning any act that threatens civil peace, denounce and condemn the massacres targeting innocent civilians, and call for an immediate end to these horrific acts…
Surprisingly, the U.S. Department of State published a statement on March 9 which accurately described the violence and stated it condemns the killers and, “the United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite and Kurdish communities…”
Despite this condemnation, the U.S. and its military—which continues to occupy one-third of Syria—continues to collaborate with HTS leaders and the U.S. military has been working behind the scenes to negotiate a deal between HTS and various militia forces in order to unify the country under HTS rule. This, despite the fact that HTS and its leader al-Jolani himself, continue to remain on the U.S. terrorism list.
For its part, the European Union (EU) released a statement that was indicative of most of the Western coverage of events:
“The European Union strongly condemns the recent attacks, reportedly by pro-Assad elements, on interim government forces in the coastal areas of Syria and all violence against civilians.”
Unsurprisingly, after the weekend killing spree, al-Jolani was invited to Brussels.
To its credit, the European Conservative condemned the invitation:
The European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, has invited the interim Syrian government to Brussels for a donor conference. This decision—designed to promote investment in the country to secure strategic resources—comes just days after the massacre of thousands of civilians from ethnic and religious minorities at the hands of the army and militias affiliated with the Islamist terror group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
Despite the severity of these events, the European Union continues to provide financial and political support to the new Syrian administration without questioning its ties to these extremist groups.
The Associated Press (AP), which is representative of Western coverage of these massacres, was late in reporting on them and, when it did, attempted to write them off as “clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad…”
But, as always, the devil is in the details and the details provided in the AP report belie the claims of “clashes” between armed groups. Thus, as the AP explained in its deceptively titled report, “2 days of clashes and revenge killings in Syria leave more than 1,000 people dead,”
…[the] revenge killings that started Friday by Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect are a major blow to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the overthrow of the former government. Alawites made up a large part of Assad’s support base for decades.
Residents of Alawite villages and towns spoke to The Associated Press about killings during which gunmen shot Alawites, the majority of them men, in the streets or at the gates of their homes. Many homes of Alawites were looted and then set on fire in different areas, two residents of Syria’s coastal region told the AP from their hideouts.
There is no evidence of “clashes” here; just wanton murder and mayhem. In addition, many women were killed, proven by numerous photos of the victims on social media. Apparently, these deaths were not convenient to AP’s narrative.
Meanwhile, the AP description of violence in one coastal town paints the picture of unarmed civilians being gunned down:
Residents of Baniyas, one of the towns worst hit by the violence, said bodies were strewn on the streets or left unburied in homes and on the roofs of buildings, and nobody was able to collect them. One resident said that the gunmen prevented residents for hours from removing the bodies of five of their neighbors killed Friday at close range.
Ali Sheha, a 57-year-old resident of Baniyas who fled with his family and neighbors hours after the violence broke out Friday, said that at least 20 of his neighbors and colleagues in one neighborhood of Baniyas where Alawites lived, were killed, some of them in their shops, or in their homes.
Where are the alleged “clashes”?
The violence perpetrated by HTS militias was so grisly and shocking that some of its own members denounced it:
Muhammad Abu Obaidah, a fighter from HTS, speaks out with tears in his eyes, condemning the brutal massacres committed in Baniyas and Jableh.
“Did our religion command us to do this? Were the Prophet’s teachings like this? Forcing people from their homes and executing them in cold blood?”
HTS’ own members are breaking ranks—the truth can no longer be hidden. Even their fighters can’t stomach these crimes.
Notably, while HTS has the wherewithal to carry out mass atrocities against Syrian civilians, it has not challenged Israel’s takeover of huge swaths of southern Syria, including Mount Hermon. Completely unmolested, Israel has set up nine military outposts in Syria since the HTS takeover.
But of course, this was according to plan.
Sadly, the atrocities we are witnessing today were predictable from the conduct of al-Nusra forces and allied terrorist groups during earlier years of the war on Syria, all enabled by a compliant Western press, which sanitized, promoted and even lionized the terrorists.
In 2021, I twice visited both Lebanon and Syria. What I learned there was at variance with what we were told in the media.
One of the first people I met in Damascus was Yara Saleh, an affable woman serving as a reporter for the Syrian News Channel, an official state news agency.
Yara, while reporting in 2012, was kidnapped by the Free Syria Army (FSA) just outside Damascus and held for six days, until she was rescued in a daring mission by the Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAA). Yara’s kidnapping and rescue became the subject of a movie which my delegation was invited to watch at its premier. I contacted Yara afterwards, to hear the story in her words.
Almost a decade later, Yara was still shaken by the earlier abduction. She was thin, ate nothing, and chain-smoked as she told her story. She told me she was traveling with a driver (Hussam Imad), a cameraman (Abdullah Tabreh) and an assistant (Hatem Abu Yehya) to report on clashes between the SAA and forces she described as “armed terrorist groups.” She wanted to report on the impact of the burgeoning war and the terrorist threats upon civilians.
While traveling to their destination (a Damascus suburb called Al-Tell), Yara and her colleagues were stopped and detained by armed men who took their possessions, including phones and money, and beat all of them, including Yara. Yara, a petite woman, said the beatings were quite hurtful. She told me the armed men kidnapped them after discovering they worked for the Syrian News Channel.
They were driven to a location with hundreds of other armed militants. En route, one of the captors held Yara’s head down between her legs.
Yara said the militants appeared to be led by a foreign sheikh. I would later hear similar stories elsewhere in the country, like Douma and Jabar. In these areas, terrorists took over the cities via long tunnels connecting them to Jordan, from where they entered, and began to kidnap, beat and enslave people and kill those of religious faiths different from the fanatical doctrine of Wahabism, which was advocated by the terrorists.
One of the first questions Yara and her colleagues were asked was of their religious background. All of them were of “mixed” traditions in Yara’s words. Yara stood out because she wore make-up and no head covering. I found out recently Yara is an Alawite. Like many of her fellow Syrians, Yara sees herself as Syrian first, an identity more important to her than her religious sect. Before the sectarian violence, Syrians did not wear their religions on their sleeve and would not ask others what their religion is, something that was considered rude.
The sheikh said they would be executed for working with the government and because of their mixed religious affiliations. Yara’s colleagues, Hussam and Hatem, were taken to a nearby location. Yara then heard the sound of gunfire. She believed both were killed. However, Hussam was brought back. He tearfully informed Yara he witnessed Hatem murdered by a spray of bullets.
Notably, Yara explained the terrorists were taking orders from someone in Turkey and were told to take them there. The terrorists planned to negotiate their freedom with the Syrian army, and if the army did not give in to their demands, they would be killed. Yara asked one captor if they would be released if the army complied. He answered in the negative, saying that they would continue to hold them to gain more concessions.
Yara said she was not certain where the terrorists were from, but some sounded like they were from Saudi Arabia and Libya.
During her captivity, Yara was subjected to physical and psychological torture. She was incessantly beaten, particularly in the first two days, and was made to wear a hijab and abaya. The terrorists referred to their captives as “infidels.” They forced her Christian cameraman to pray as Muslims do. They were moved around a lot and kept underground in the dark, with rats. The little food they were given was inadequate.
Yara said she was threatened with sexual violence and believed had she not been rescued or if the fighters were not distracted with clashes, these threats would have been carried out.
Eventually, the Syrian army surrounded the area in order to rescue them. The terrorists attempted to escape using Yara and her colleagues as human shields. However, they were able to escape to the safety of the army. Yara said she was elated when the army arrived and was moved to tears when she saw they were flying the flag of Syria.
After her experience, Yara was convinced the terrorists fighting the government stood outside of civilization and that darkness would descend upon Syria if they gained power.
I am still in touch with Yara. While she is devastated by the fall of the Assad government and is worried about where the country is headed, she believes in Syria and her people and believes the country will rise again. She is one of the bravest people I have ever met.
Also in 2021, I visited a primary school in the Ikrimah neighborhood of Homs which witnessed one of the worst atrocities of the war. In October 2014, terrorists attacked the school with two car bombs in what is known as a double-tap attack. The first bomb killed numerous children. The second bomb was timed to kill parents who rushed to check on their children after news of the first explosion was reported on the radio. Some 45 people in total were killed, including 37 children, and more than 110 were injured, the majority of them children.
On October 2, 2014, the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic sent identical letters to the United Nations Security Council and UN Secretary-General denouncing the attacks, foreign support for the terrorists and the world’s silence. In pertinent part, the letters read:
The available information indicates that the two terrorist bombings were planned and executed by the terrorist groups which the Western States and their regional proxies enthusiastically refer to as the “moderate armed opposition.”
The killing of innocent children and other civilians can have no justification. Yet the international community, as represented by the United Nations, has not condemned the crimes of the armed terrorist groups. Nor has it spoken out against the recent terrorist attacks on schools. The latest incident was but one example; others include the targeting of the Badruldin al-Husayni Faculty of Legal Sciences, the Darulsalam School and the Manar School.
The murder of schoolchildren in Homs encapsulates the ideology and modus operandi of the terrorist groups, who have directed their hatred and lawlessness at Syria’s children, and not for the first time. On another occasion, terrorist groups struck against children under the age of three, when fictitious health-care agencies belonging to the armed terrorist groups conspired with the Turkish authorities to cause a humanitarian disaster that claimed the lives of 15 innocent Syrian children, who had been given expired and poisoned vaccinations for measles. Dozens of other innocent children suffered asphyxiation.
The assertion that the terrorists were amongst the “moderate rebels” and supported by foreign powers, including the U.S., turned out to be true. As the principal of the school explained to me, this attack was carried out by the FSA which former President Barack Obama stated was the main group the U.S. was supporting in Syria at this time.
The school principal expressed deep gratitude to President Assad, who supported the swift rebuilding of the school, and she gave me a tour of the restored facilities. She expressed particular thanks to First Lady Asma Fawaz al-Assad, who visited the school shortly after the tragedy to give condolences to the families affected. She proudly showed me photos of the First Lady’s visit.
Also in Homs, I visited the Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt, a Syriac Orthodox cathedral which claims to house a portion of a belt worn by the Virgin Mary. The current church was built in 1852, but the original church, which can be visited underneath and is essentially a cave, was built in 59 AD, making it one of the oldest churches in the world.
In 2012, the FSA attacked this church, destroying ancient relics and burning portions of it. As the pastor of the church told me, before the FSA arrived, members of the church, escorted by the Syrian Arab Army, had moved the belt of Mary to another city and hid it there.
I was surprised to learn it was Hezbollah, along with the SAA, which helped defend the church and drove the FSA away. The church was heavily damaged, but was fully restored by 2014. The pastor was grateful to the government for its efforts to save the church and the belt of Mary which, by the time I had visited, was housed there again.
While those who opposed the government have tried to blame Assad for provoking the attacks upon Christians, which began early in the war, the Telegram group Syrian Christians tells a different story. As they explained recently, in a post captioned, “Who is inciting against Christians in the Valley of the Christians”:
Since the fall of the Baathist regime, the valley [in the western part of Homs Governate] has become a hotspot for escalating crimes and violence, marked by a distressing surge in murders and kidnappings orchestrated by jihadists. This once-peaceful region now grapples with fear and uncertainty…
As Syrian Christians explained, Christians took up arms to defend themselves against terrorist attacks. On March 17, 2025, Syrian Christians reported that “Christian fighters who defended their town against jihadist terrorists during the war are now being taken and tortured in Jolani’s prisons.”
Just as Christians took up arms, so did Alawites. Indeed, I am close to some Alawite fighters who fought alongside the army. These individuals were not fans of Assad and were critical of many of his government’s policies. However, they explained, they knew they were fighting darker forces. And now that Assad’s government has fallen, they and their families live in terror in places like Homs and Latakia. They will not go to work, attend school or to worship. At most, they leave their homes to buy food, and sometimes not even then. The forces they were fighting have taken over, and all they wish to do now is leave Syria. At least for the moment, however, they are trapped.
- Naila Kauser contributed to this article.
CovertAction Magazine is made possible by subscriptions, orders and donations from readers like you.
Blow the Whistle on U.S. Imperialism
Click the whistle and donate
When you donate to CovertAction Magazine, you are supporting investigative journalism. Your contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the Magazine.
CovertAction Magazine does not receive corporate or government sponsorship. Yet, we hold a steadfast commitment to providing compensation for writers, editorial and technical support. Your support helps facilitate this compensation as well as increase the caliber of this work.
Please make a donation by clicking on the donate logo above and enter the amount and your credit or debit card information.
CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your gift is tax-deductible for federal income purposes. CAI’s tax-exempt ID number is 87-2461683.
We sincerely thank you for your support.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s). CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI), including its Board of Directors (BD), Editorial Board (EB), Advisory Board (AB), staff, volunteers and its projects (including CovertAction Magazine) are not responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. This article also does not necessarily represent the views the BD, the EB, the AB, staff, volunteers, or any members of its projects.
Differing viewpoints: CAM publishes articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis. Feel free to comment on the articles in the comment section and/or send your letters to the Editors, which we will publish in the Letters column.
Copyrighted Material: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of New York, we are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of humanity’s problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. You can read more about ‘fair use’ and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.
Republishing: CovertAction Magazine (CAM) grants permission to cross-post CAM articles on not-for-profit community internet sites as long as the source is acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original CovertAction Magazine article. Also, kindly let us know at info@CovertActionMagazine.com. For publication of CAM articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: info@CovertActionMagazine.com.
By using this site, you agree to these terms above.
About the Author
Daniel Kovalik graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1993. He then served as in-house counsel for the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO (USW) until 2019.
While with the USW, he worked on Alien Tort Claims Act cases against The Coca-Cola Company, Drummond and Occidental Petroleum—cases arising out of egregious human rights abuses in Colombia.
The Christian Science Monitor, referring to his work defending Colombian unionists under threat of assassination, described Mr. Kovalik as “one of the most prominent defenders of Colombian workers in the United States.”
Mr. Kovalik received the David W. Mills Mentoring Fellowship from Stanford University School of Law and was the recipient of the Project Censored Award for his article exposing the unprecedented killing of trade unionists in Colombia.
He has written extensively on the issue of international human rights and U.S. foreign policy for the Huffington Post and Counterpunch and has lectured throughout the world on these subjects. He is the author of several books including The Plot To Overthrow Venezuela, How The US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil, which includes a Foreword by Oliver Stone; The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran; and with Jeremy Kuzmarov, Syria: Anatomy of a Regime Change.
Daniel can be reached at dkovalik@outlook.com.
There was no double tap strike of a “group” on Ikrimah school. It was a lone wolf bomber who first tossed in a bomb then detonated himself. No one else claimed responsibility. No proof that the numbers of dead of the violence are that great right now, there is no verification been made. Too many fake narratives going and many faceless and unverified characters claiming this and that. Assad was a butcher and everyone now acts like he was blameless. Several of Dans pictures are floating all over the internet as coming from elsewhere.
Would Egypt be better off if Erdogan’s monster Morsi hadn’t been imprisoned by the Emirates and Israel? The Alawite idiots should ask for help professionals like Netanyahu and Al Nahyan to help them, not monkeys from Hezbollah and traitors from Iran and Russia.
Daily death toll |44 people killed on August 6th across Syria
On Aug 6, 2025
Share
Further details of fatalities, documented by SOHR, can be summarised as follows:
A young man was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Al-Namliyah village in northern Deir Ezzor countryside
A 13-year-old child was killed by the explosion of an old landmine, while herding cattle near Um Rajim village in the eastern countryside of Idlib.
Two young men were killed as a body of young man found with body of unidentified person in Tel Kalakh in Homs countryside
37 civilians, including women and children executed by members of Syrian Ministry of Defence, general security, and Bedouin gunmen during their control of Al-Suwaidaa
Two SDF members by ISIS members attack this evening, targeting their military vehicle with machine guns in Al-Bahrah Town, eastern Deir Ezzor countryside.
A young man was killed after being shot by his brother in Hariza Village, part of Al-Basira countryside in eastern Deir Ezzor, following a family dispute.
https://www.syriahr.com/en/367368/
Further details of fatalities, documented by SOHR, can be summarised as follows:
A young man was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Al-Namliyah village in northern Deir Ezzor countryside
A 13-year-old child was killed by the explosion of an old landmine, while herding cattle near Um Rajim village in the eastern countryside of Idlib.
Two young men were killed as a body of young man found with body of unidentified person in Tel Kalakh in Homs countryside
37 civilians, including women and children executed by members of Syrian Ministry of Defence, general security, and Bedouin gunmen during their control of Al-Suwaidaa
Two SDF members by ISIS members attack this evening, targeting their military vehicle with machine guns in Al-Bahrah Town, eastern Deir Ezzor countryside.
A young man was killed after being shot by his brother in Hariza Village, part of Al-Basira countryside in eastern Deir Ezzor, following a family dispute.
https://www.syriahr.com/en/367368/
Of course, criminals attacked a Christian church with guns and bombs.It is easy to fight unarmed opponents and sell helpless women. But we are strong and together with the men we will go and liberate our Damascus back. Damascus was ours and Damascus will be ours. We are just a stage away.
Although I have read some negative reports about the New Syria, it seems to be great for the Jewish people as shown in this article. The Assad regime was a very brutal regime:
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/g-s1-50596/syria-jews-damascus-visit
It is excellent primarily because they will have problems with Erdogan. These people are deranged, look what Erdogan’s monsters did to Libya. Egypt was saved by El Sisi, who signed a secret treaty with Israel and the UAE. Believe it or not, the basic problem is that if someone is crazy like Erdogan, you can’t be sure that one day he won’t attack Israel in combination with a bunch of similar extremists.
MK Akram Hasson on Sharaa: ‘How can you accept a killer’ as president?
The veteran politician says American efforts to normalize relations with Ahmed al-Sharaa risk legitimizing a man with a history of mass killings
Former MK Akram Hasson attends a replacing ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024.
Former MK Akram Hasson attends a replacing ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024.
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
ByFELICE FRIEDSON/THE MEDIA LINE
AUGUST 6, 2025 19:46
Updated: AUGUST 6, 2025 19:49
MK Akram Hasson, an Israeli Druze politician and veteran member of the Knesset, sounded the alarm on what he views as an existential threat to the Druze community, Israel, and the broader region.
Hasson—currently a member of the New Hope party and formerly the head of Kadima, where he made history as the first Druze to lead a Jewish party—outlined his concerns about developments in Syria, the rise of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), and what he views as misguided US policy in the region.
Hasson, who was born in the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel, began by stressing the central role the Druze have played in Syria’s history.
“The Druze in Syria, they are the largest Druze community in the region—around 800,000. We have 152,000 in Israel and about 220,000 in Lebanon,” he explained. “The Druze are Syrian. They helped the Syrian people gain independence in 1925, when they fought the French army. They gave their blood for the state.”
However, Hasson said that the situation changed dramatically under the Assad regime, prompting many Druze to refuse military service to avoid becoming complicit in civilian killings. “They refused to serve in the army—not to be killers.”
Israeli Druze Akram Hasson attends a campaign event for the new centre-right ”National Unity Party”, or Hamahane Hamamlachti in Hebrew, in the Druze village of Hurfeish in northern Israel on October 11, 2022. – Israel’s November 1 election will be its fifth vote in less than four years. (credit: JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli Druze Akram Hasson attends a campaign event for the new centre-right ”National Unity Party”, or Hamahane Hamamlachti in Hebrew, in the Druze village of Hurfeish in northern Israel on October 11, 2022. – Israel’s November 1 election will be its fifth vote in less than four years. (credit: JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
But the real turning point, Hasson said, was the emergence of Sharaa, a former commander of Jabhat al-Nusra and an internationally designated terrorist.
“I was worried from the beginning because I know this man,” Hasson said. “He was a killer with blood on his hands. He was the head of Jabhat al-Nusra, a big terror organization. He operated in Iraq—we know exactly what he did. Then he returned to Lebanon, and now he comes to Syria and wants to be president. It’s a dirty game.”
Hasson expressed disbelief that anyone could accept Sharaa as a legitimate leader: “How can you accept a killer, a man who belonged to a terror organization, to become president? The US offered $10 million to catch him or bring his head.”
When asked whether the US was “playing with fire” by attempting to normalize Sharaa, Hasson did not mince words. “He will be [a terrorist]. When someone is born a terrorist, he will continue. He will not be democratic.”
Hasson cited Sharaa’s violent actions against minorities—including the Alawites, Yazidis, Druze, and Kurds—as proof. “He tells them, ‘Bring your weapons, be part of Syria,’ and two days later, he kills thousands. He did the same with the Druze. In the future, he will do the same to the Kurds.”
He warned that Sharaa was not acting alone but had the backing of foreign fighters from Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, who were being paid to “kill Syrian citizens.” According to Hasson, Sharaa’s rise threatens not only the Druze but also Israel.
“The army, the prime minister, the foreign minister—they all support us,” Hasson said. “Because they know these people will come to Israel, armed, and try to kill civilians, just like Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. You cannot believe these people.”
Trump’s efforts are misguided in the Syrian context
Turning to American policy, Hasson acknowledged that the US, particularly under President Donald Trump, has been a friend to Israel. But he said Trump’s efforts to broker peace in the region through business-focused diplomacy, like the Abraham Accords, are misguided in the Syrian context.
He said that Trump wants peace with Syria and Lebanon to pave the way for Saudi Arabia. But he doesn’t understand how things work in the Middle East. Hasson said. “The only democratic country in the Middle East is Israel. … There is terror everywhere [else].”
He said peace with Syria under Sharaa is impossible unless the leader includes minorities and conducts democratic elections. “Not to kill minorities and destroy cities. You can’t do peace with terror.”
Hasson further criticized Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey for funding and arming Sharaa’s forces. “They give weapons. We see it every day. We’re in the same army in Israel. We hear from our brothers what’s happening; women and children being killed.”
Syria conflict has deeper roots
The media has tended to portray the violence in Syria as a tribal feud, but Hasson said the conflict has deeper roots.
“There’s been tension for 100 years, but now the president gives weapons to the Bedouin to destroy Druze villages like As-Suwayda,” Hasson said. “It’s all part of the game.”
In his view, the solution is clear: “We cannot trust this man. … We must kill this terrible terrorist. And we must destroy his government because they are not Syrian.”
Hasson accused Sharaa of aiming to expand his influence beyond Syria. “He said, ‘We will meet in Jerusalem.’ For what? To have peace?” He added, “We know these people that they have only one way. If you will believe in the Islamic Jihad, in his way and his thinking, you are okay. If you belong to another minority, to another religion, you are against him.”
When asked about reports that the Syrian government had begun removing Bedouin from Druze areas, Hasson said it was a ploy.
“He’s trying to give another picture to America and Israel” that he removed the Bedouin. “But we don’t believe him because just this morning, they bombed our villages in Syria.”
Hasson pointed to Turkey’s role in supplying weapons and pledged to take the issue to international courts. “We’re going to the United Nations with our ambassador, Danny Danon. We will be in the higher court in Holland [the International Criminal Court in The Hague] with all the evidence.”
He concluded the topic of Syria with a bleak prediction: “There’s no peace or future for the Druze in Syria. I ask Israel to take all the area of the Druze from As-Suwayda till Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.”
Hasson also said he hopes the Kurds—who control large areas in Syria and have experience fighting Turkey—can be part of a future solution. But he warned that Turkey, under President Erdoğan, poses its own threat.
“Erdoğan killed hundreds of thousands of Kurds in Turkey, and he told everyone he is democratic.” Hasson pointed out that Erdoğan even jailed the mayor of Istanbul and is becoming “even more [of a] fanatic.”
He decried the fact that there were no leaders in the region standing with Israel.
Wearing a yellow pin in solidarity with the hostages, Hasson responded with profound emotion when discussing the captives still held in Gaza and the ongoing war.
“We lost our best Druze officers in Gaza. Colonel Ehsan Daksa from my city gave his life.” Regarding bringing the hostages back, Hasson said, “We’ll give our blood” for their return. “It’s humanity.”
Hasson contrasted Israel’s values with those of Hamas. “We believe one soldier’s life means everything. … They have 6,000 Hamas members in our prisons,” and yet, “Nobody [among Hamas] asks about them.”
He acknowledged ongoing negotiations involving the US, Qatar, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, but warned: “No one in our government can accept a future where Hamas continues to rule Gaza.”
“We’re dealing with the largest terror force in the region,” Hasson said. “They don’t believe in God. They don’t believe in life.”