Israel-Backed Druze Militia Storms Syrian Positions

Fighters from the Druze National Guard launched a multi-axis assault on Syrian Internal Security positions west and northwest of Sweida city overnight.

Druze National Guard is a militia that openly coordinates with Israel whose leader has declared his community "an integral part of the State of Israel".

Syrian state media called it the heaviest such attack in months, targeting the Tal Hadid, Walgha, al-Mansoura and al-Naql-al-Mansoura axes. Ten government security personnel were wounded, and attackers reportedly used a drone against al-Mansoura.

A Militia That Answers to Israel, Not Damascus

The National Guard's own spokesman has confirmed the force is "in constant contact with Israel."

Its commander, Hikmat al-Hijri, has publicly praised Israeli military intervention on his militia's behalf and calling his Druze community part of the Israeli state rather than of Syria.

Israel has repeatedly struck Syrian government positions, including the Defence Ministry in Damascus, whenever Damascus's forces pressed into Druze-held territory, and has openly demanded Sweida remain stripped of the Syrian army entirely, a demand Damascus says amounts to Israel dictating what a sovereign government may do inside its own borders.

Israel's Wider Southern Offensive

Israel's involvement in southern Syria goes well beyond the attacks from tonight in Sweida.

Israeli forces kept up intensified ground and artillery operations just across the border in Daraa and Quneitra, the broader zone Israel has occupied as a self-declared security buffer since Assad's fall in December 2024.

Late-August activity included artillery fire on Quneitra's Tal al-Ahmar area, armored incursions into villages such as al-Samdaniya al-Gharbiya, forced checkpoints, home searches and near-daily patrols through the Yarmouk Basin, all continuing despite ongoing US-mediated talks in Jordan meant to de-escalate the front.