Syria’s Druze community remained on the sidelines during the civil war but, since the fall of the secular Assad regime in December 2024, has had to contend with the sectarian Sunni Muslim Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group led the offensive which brought about Bashar al-Assad’s downfall.
Clashes on Tuesday in the Druze-Christian Jaramana suburb of Damascus were triggered by a social media recording said to be of a Druze cleric insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Druze leaders have called this a fabrication. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimates that at least 73 people have been killed across the country in recent days, including some on the government’s side, amid escalating violence.
The Druze, 700,000 strong, are the third largest religious group in Syria and account for 3.2 per cent of the population
The Druze follow an Arab non-Muslim, monotheistic faith which has incorporated elements of Shiism, Christianity and other regional religions. Clerics called Uqqal keep the faith’s tenets secret, while most Druze are largely secular. Due to centuries of repression and persecution, Druze have practised taqiyya, a form of deception in which religious beliefs are concealed, allowing them to blend in with locals.
The Druze, 700,000 strong, are the third largest religious group in Syria and account for 3.2 per cent of the population. They generally live in suburbs of Damascus and are concentrated in the southern province of Sweida, which became a Druze state from 1921 to 1936 during the French mandate.
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Druze number 250,000 in Lebanon and 127,000 in Israel where they are citizens and serve in the army. Some 23,000 Druze in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights retain their Syrian nationality.
In March, the Syrian Druze leadership reached an agreement with the HTS government to integrate Sweida into state institutions.
According to the agreement, while Druze armed factions would be under control of the interior ministry, police officers would be recruited from the local Druze population. A governor and police chief who could be non-Druze would be appointed by the government.
This deal could be short-lived.
In April, minority Alawites were still fearful after the SOHR reported that 1,700 Alawites – the sect to which the Assads belonged – were killed in March in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous.
The Druze deal was based on an agreement between the government and Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls 25 per cent of the country.
In March, senior Druze cleric Yousef al-Jarbou urged decentralisation and said Syria’s interim constitution, backed by Syria’s interim president and HTS commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, “does not rise to the aspirations of the Syrian people.”
The document, drafted without Druze or Kurdish participation, makes Islamic law “the main source of legislation”, and concentrates authority in the presidency.
Jarbou said Druze and Kurds “have a shared political vision”. On April 26th, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi convened a conference to present a plan for “a decentralised democratic Syria that embraces everyone” under a new constitution which guarantees equality for all Syrians.
