Early Sunday saw the deployment of Syrian security troops around a mostly Druse town outside the capital, Damascus, two days after a shooting between armed men from a nearby neighborhood and government authorities left one person dead and many others injured.
Following Friday night’s violent conflict between the Druse, a religious minority, and the security forces of Syria’s new government, an uneasy quiet has returned to the village of Jaramana. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a security officer was murdered and that nine others were injured.
“An undisciplined mob that does not belong to our customs, nor to our known monotheistic traditions or customs” was the reason given by Druse spiritual leaders for the murder.
While there were differing accounts of how the incident transpired in Jaramana, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Saturday that he had directed the military “to prepare and deliver a strong and clear warning message: If the regime harms the Druse — it will be harmed by us” brought the conflict into the international spotlight.
The Druse are a religious minority that has communities in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, including the Golan Heights region that Israel unjustly seized.
Israeli involvement threats were quickly and forcefully rejected by Syrian Druse and government authorities.
Rabih Munthir, a Druse leader in Jaramana, stated, “We are Syrian Arab nationals, and we await a response from the administration and government.” “We will not beg for protection from anyone, and we are not asking for it either. We are citizens who have inhabited this area for over a millennium.
Lt. Col. Hossam al-Tahan, the head of the security directorate in the outskirts of Damascus, stated Saturday that the Syrian government was collaborating with local authorities to find everyone involved in the shooting.
Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes, destroyed military facilities, threatened civilians, and raided localities in Syria just days after Syrian rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in early December. The three-month-long raids have sparked concerns among Syrians of a protracted military occupation, despite Israel’s claims that they are only temporary security measures.
The United Nations said in January that “Syria’s sovereignty, territorial unity, and integrity must be fully restored” in response to the international condemnation of Israel’s airstrikes on Syria.
