Beirut, Lebanon – Dozens of Israeli Druze civilians crossed the border into Syrian territory on Tuesday near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli military announced, amid growing anger over reports of deadly attacks on Druze civilians in southern Syria.
According to a statement reported by The Times of Israel, Israeli forces were working to return the civilians who breached the border fence. The incident comes as Druze communities in Israel stage protests in response to reports of summary executions and attacks against fellow Druze in Syria’s Sweida province.
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli directly called for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to “be eliminated without delay,” calling him a “barbaric murderer” in a post on his X account.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes on security targets in Sweida on Tuesday, killing and wounding several members of Syria’s Internal Security Forces, according to our reporter. One strike reportedly hit a convoy of Internal Security vehicles outside the criminal investigation building in central Sweida.
Related: Rights Violations Target Civilians in Sweida by Syrian Defense Ministry Forces
These raids coincided with fierce clashes between Syrian security units and local armed factions, which left additional casualties on both sides. The Israeli strikes followed a joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, instructing the Israeli military to strike Syrian Defense and Interior Ministry forces operating in Sweida.
In their statement, published by The Times of Israel, the Israeli government said the strikes aimed to enforce the long-standing demilitarization policy that bars heavy Syrian military deployments near the Israeli border in the south.
“Israel is committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria due to the deep brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel, and their familial and historical ties to the Druze in Syria,” the statement read. “we are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them, and to ensure the demilitarization of the area adjacent to our border.”
In a related claim, Axios political correspondent Barak Ravid reported that the Trump administration previously asked Israel to halt airstrikes on Syrian military forces in southern Syria. A U.S. official told Axios that Israel had agreed to pause its strikes by Tuesday evening.
The same official said the Syrian government had informed Israel in advance that it was sending tanks to Sweida to contain escalating clashes between Druze militias and a Bedouin gang — and stressed the operation was not intended as an offensive move against Israel.
