Leaders of Israel’s Druze say the state owes it to them to defend Syrian kin

Leaders of Israel’s Druze say the state owes it to them to defend Syrian kin
Pained and angered by deadly clashes between Islamist and Druze gunmen in Syria in recent weeks, leaders of Israel's own Druze minority say the Israeli military was right to intervene to defend the Druze and should do so again if violence restarts. (AP/File)
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Updated 14 May 2025
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Leaders of Israel’s Druze say the state owes it to them to defend Syrian kin

Leaders of Israel’s Druze say the state owes it to them to defend Syrian kin
  • “The Druze in Israel have forged a bond with the country and with the Jewish people. We are fighting alongside them on all fronts,” said Anwer Amer, a former police officer
  • An Arab minority straddling Lebanon, Syria and Israel, the Druze practice a secret religion that is an offshoot of Islam

HURFEISH, Israel: Pained and angered by deadly clashes between Islamist and Druze gunmen in Syria in recent weeks, leaders of Israel’s own Druze minority say the Israeli military was right to intervene to defend the Druze and should do so again if violence restarts.

Close ties between the Israeli state and its 120,000 Druze citizens, strengthened by the fact that Druze men serve in the Israel Defense Forces, are one of the reasons for Israel’s deepening involvement in Syria.

“The Druze in Israel have forged a bond with the country and with the Jewish people. We are fighting alongside them on all fronts,” said Anwer Amer, a former police officer who is now the mayor of Hurfeish, a Druze town in the Galilee, northern Israel.

“I expect my state and the Jewish people to reciprocate for everything we’ve done for it and defend our brothers in Syria,” he told Reuters at his office.

An Arab minority straddling Lebanon, Syria and Israel, the Druze practice a secret religion that is an offshoot of Islam. Loyal to their culture and to each other, they also seek good relations with the countries where they live.

Druze solidarity is not Israel’s only concern in Syria, which has been run by an Islamist group that was once an Al-Qaeda affiliate since Bashar Assad was ousted in December.

Israel sees the Islamists as a threat and has sought to keep their armed forces out of regions close to its border, such as Sweida province where the majority are Druze.

Regional geopolitics are shifting. Israel frequently bombed Syria during Assad’s rule to counter his backer, Iran, but now worries about Türkiye, a close ally of the Islamists, becoming stronger in Syria and gaining a foothold near Israel’s border.

In a major policy change, US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria, setting aside deep Israeli suspicion of the new administration there.

In this transformed landscape, defending the Syrian Druze is in Israel’s interest because they help keep the Islamists at bay, said Sarit Zehavi, founder of the Alma Center, a security research and teaching organization in the Galilee.

“Building relationships with the Druze of Syria that are living a few tens of kilometers from the border could help ensure the Islamist monster is not growing next to our border,” she said, adding that this was a lesson learned from the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

She said Israel was also duty bound to help the Druze because of its “special relationship” with its own Druze.

That relationship was strained in 2018, when tens of thousands of Druze protested against a new law stating that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country.

Yet in the Galilee’s Druze villages, perched on steep slopes lush with oak and olive trees,
Israeli flags and Druze flags — a green triangle with red, yellow, blue and white stripes — are equally ubiquitous on flagpoles and public buildings.

In March, a delegation of Syrian Druze religious elders was allowed into Israel to visit a holy shrine for the first time in 50 years, sparking huge celebrations among Israeli Druze.

’NO OTHER CHOICES’
The fighting in Druze areas of Syria started on April 29 and left more than 100 Druze dead, mostly gunmen, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also reported 32 Islamist deaths.

Coming after hundreds of Alawites, another Syrian minority, were slaughtered by pro-government fighters in March, the violence was viewed as an existential threat by many Druze.

“It’s not easy to see the pictures and to hear them turning to us to help,” said Anan Wahabi, a Druze former IDF officer, now a university lecturer in political science.

The spiritual leader of the Israeli Druze, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to press for military action. Some Druze soldiers signed a letter volunteering to go and fight in Syria. Druze protesters blocked roads to pressure the government into intervening.

Israel responded with air strikes, including one near the presidential palace in Damascus which it called a warning to the Syrian government not to deploy forces south of the capital or threaten the Druze. It also said it had sent ground troops to protect Druze villages and had evacuated some casualties.

“The IDF continues to monitor developments and remains at peak readiness for defense and
various scenarios,” it said last week.

Syria accused Israel of a dangerous escalation and rejected any foreign intervention. The government has made concessions to ease tensions with the Druze, such as hiring security forces locally rather than bringing them in from elsewhere.

Some Druze say Israel should keep quieter about its actions to shield the Syrian Druze from being seen as Israeli proxies.

“We expect a country that we die for to protect our brothers, but it’s better if they tone it down,” Salim Barik, a political scientist, was quoted as saying by Israeli newspaper Calcalist.

But Wahabi said the Syrian Druze needed Israel’s support regardless of optics.

“In this chaos in Syria the Druze have no other choices,” he said.

In the Galilee village of Yanuh-Jat, local religious elder Sheikh Kamal Hatib, speaking at the shrine of a Druze saint, said Israeli Druze would keep pushing for their government to protect their Syrian brethren.

“If something happens, we’re going to be there,” he said.


Trump says two weeks is ‘maximum’ for Iran decision

Trump says two weeks is ‘maximum’ for Iran decision
Updated 53 min 54 sec ago
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Trump says two weeks is ‘maximum’ for Iran decision

Trump says two weeks is ‘maximum’ for Iran decision
  • Trump also played down the possibility of asking Israel to halt its attacks
  • The US president dismissed the chance of success in talks between European powers and Iran

MORRISTOWN, United States: President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran had a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible US air strikes, indicating he could take a decision before the fortnight deadline he set a day earlier.

Trump added that Iran “doesn’t want to talk to Europe,” dismissing the chance of success in talks between European powers and Iran in Geneva on resolving the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Trump also played down the possibility of asking Israel to halt its attacks, after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would not resume talks with the United States until Israel relented.

“I’m giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum,” Trump told reporters when asked if he could decide to strike Iran before that.

He added that the aim was to “see whether or not people come to their senses.”

Trump had said in a statement on Thursday that he would “make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks” because there was a “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran.

Those comments had been widely seen as opening a two-week window for negotiations to end the war between Israel and Iran, with the European powers rushing to talks with Tehran.

But his latest remarks indicated that Trump could still make his decision before that if he feels that there has been no progress toward dismantling Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump dismissed the chances of Europe making a difference, saying the talks between Britain, France, Germany and EU diplomats and Tehran’s foreign minister “didn’t help.”

“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this,” Trump told reporters as he arrived in Morristown, New Jersey.

Asked if he would ask Israel to stop its attacks as Iran had asked, Trump said it was “very hard to make that request right now.”

“If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody’s losing, but we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens.”


In Istanbul, top Arab League diplomats discuss Iran-Israel war

In Istanbul, top Arab League diplomats discuss Iran-Israel war
Updated 20 June 2025
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In Istanbul, top Arab League diplomats discuss Iran-Israel war

In Istanbul, top Arab League diplomats discuss Iran-Israel war
  • The ministers were in Turkiye’s largest city on the eve of weekend gathering of the OIC
  • Some 40 top diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering

ISTANBUL: Arab League foreign ministers gathered in Istanbul late Friday to discuss the escalating war between Iran and Israel, Turkish state news agency Anadolu said, quoting diplomatic sources.

The ministers were in Turkiye’s largest city on the eve of weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which was also slated to discuss the air war launched a week ago.

Israel began its assault in the early hours of June 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, triggering an immediate immediate retaliation from Tehran in the worst-ever confrontation between the two arch-rivals.

Some 40 top diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering of the OIC which will also have a session dedicated to discussing the Iran-Israel crisis, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday, will also attend and address the diplomats, the ministry said.

Earlier on Friday, Araghchi said Tehran was ready to “consider diplomacy” again only if Israel’s “aggression is stopped.”

The Arab League ministers were expected to release a statement following their meeting, Anadolu said.


US to move third aircraft carrier closer to Mideast conflict

US to move third aircraft carrier closer to Mideast conflict
Updated 20 June 2025
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US to move third aircraft carrier closer to Mideast conflict

US to move third aircraft carrier closer to Mideast conflict
  • Navy official confirms USS Gerald R. Ford will depart for Europe next week
  • USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group already in Middle East, soon to be joined by USS Nimitz

WASHINGTON: The USS Gerald R. Ford will depart for Europe next week, a Navy official said Friday, placing a third American aircraft carrier in closer proximity to the Middle East as Israel and Iran trade strikes.
Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign against Iran last week, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing whether to join Israel in the fight.
“The Gerald Ford carrier strike group will depart Norfolk (Virginia) the morning of June 24 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the US European Command area of responsibility,” the Navy official said.
The USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group has been operating in the Middle East since earlier this year, taking part in an air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
And a US defense official has confirmed that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered the Nimitz carrier strike group to the Middle East, saying it was “to sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel.”
Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to join Israel’s strikes on Iran within the next two weeks, citing a chance of negotiations to end the conflict.
That deadline comes after a tense few days in which the US president publicly mulled hitting Iran and said that Tehran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was an “easy target.”
Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path toward a deal to replace the nuclear deal with Iran that he tore up in his first term in 2018, but has since backed Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military top brass.
A key issue is that the United States is the only country with the huge “bunker buster” bombs that could destroy Iran’s crucial Fordo nuclear enrichment plant.
A number of key figures in his “Make America Great Again” movement have vocally opposed US strikes on Iran, and Trump’s promise to extract the United States from its “forever wars” in the Middle East played a role in his 2016 and 2024 election wins.


GCC chief hails UN adoption of landmark resolution on strategic cooperation

GCC chief hails UN adoption of landmark resolution on strategic cooperation
Updated 20 June 2025
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GCC chief hails UN adoption of landmark resolution on strategic cooperation

GCC chief hails UN adoption of landmark resolution on strategic cooperation
  • Jasem Albudaiwi describes agreement between the organizations as a major step forward in deepening regional and international collaboration
  • Its adoption reflects the respected status of the GCC as a proactive regional partner in efforts to support global peace and security, he adds

RIYADH: The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Albudaiwi, on Friday welcomed the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a landmark resolution on collaboration between the organizations.

He described the agreement, formally titled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council” and the first of its kind, as a major step forward in deepening regional and international collaboration, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The resolution, adopted on Monday, was submitted to the UN on behalf of GCC member states by Kuwait, which currently holds the presidency of the regional organization.

Albudaiwi said its adoption reflects the respected status of the GCC as a proactive regional partner in efforts to support global peace and security. It signifies a new phase of strategic partnership between the organizations, he added, underscored by concrete plans and activities to enhance cooperation.

He praised Kuwait for the diplomatic efforts of the nation’s mission to the UN in New York, and said the success of the resolution embodies the spirit of unity within the GCC and its commitment to working constructively with international partners across multilateral platforms.


19 injured in Israeli port after Iran missile barrage

19 injured in Israeli port after Iran missile barrage
Updated 20 June 2025
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19 injured in Israeli port after Iran missile barrage

19 injured in Israeli port after Iran missile barrage
  • Projectile slammed into an area by the docks in Haifa on Friday afternoon

JERUSALEM: At least 19 people were injured in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa as Iran fired a fresh barrage of missiles on Friday afternoon, authorities said.
Iran has been launching daily missile salvos at Israel for the past week since a wide-ranging Israeli attack on its nuclear and military facilities triggered war.
One projectile slammed into an area by the docks in Haifa on Friday afternoon where it damaged a building and blew out windows, littering the ground with rubble, AFP images showed.
Israel’s foreign ministry said it struck “next to” the Al-Jarina mosque.
The locations of missile strikes in Israel are subject to strict military censorship rules and are not always provided in detail to the public.
A spokesman for Haifa’s Rambam hospital said 19 people had been injured in the city, with one in a serious condition.
A military official said that “approximately 20 missiles were launched toward Israel” in the latest Iranian salvo.
More than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones, according to Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate.
The directorate added that the country’s tax authority had received over 25,000 claims linked to damage caused to buildings during the war.
Israel launched a massive wave of strikes on June 13, triggering an immediate retaliation from Tehran.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered, while Israel and Iran have traded accusations of targeting civilians.
At least 25 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian missile strikes, according to authorities.
Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not updated the toll since.