Who be di Druze and why Israel dey attack Syria?
On Sunday 13 July, di reported kidnap of one merchant from di Druze minority bin spark days of deadly clashes between Druze sojas and Sunni Bedouin fighters for southern Syria.
Later for Tuesday 15 July, Israel intervene wit military effort, dem say dia forces wan protect di Druze and eliminate pro-government forces wey dey accused of attacking dem for Suweida.
According to di Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 350 pipo don die for Suweida since Sunday,
Di violence na di first for di Druze-majority province of Suweida since fighting for April and May between Druze fighters and Syria new security forces kill dozens of pipo.
Bifor dis one, authorities say clashes for Syria coastal provinces for March bin lead to di death of hundreds of members of di Alawite minority, group wey former ruler Bashar al-Assad belong to.
Di deadly unrest, plus di violent Israeli strikes, don bring back fears of a security breakdown for Syria, as di kontri dey struggle wit di fallout from ova a decade of civil war, and di recent Islamist-led rebel takeover of Damascus for December 2024.
Syria current leader, former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, don vow to protect Syria minorities.
Who be di Druze?
Di Druze na one Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority for Syria, Lebanon, Israel plus di occupied Golan Heights.
Di Druze faith na offshoot of Shia Islam wit im own unique identity and beliefs.
Half of dia roughly one million followers dey live for Syria, wia dem make up about 3% of di population.
Di Druze community for Israel dey largely considered say dem dey loyal to di Israeli state, sake of dia members participation for military service.
About 152,000 Druze pipo dey live for Israel and di Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to di Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.
Dem historically occupy uncertain position for Syria political order. During Syria almost 14-year civil war, di Druze operate dia own militias for southern Syria.
Since di fall of Assad for December, di Druze don resist state attempts to impose authority ova southern Syria.
While di Druze factions for Syria dey divided for dia approach to di new authorities, wey range from caution to outright rejection, many object to official Syrian security presence for Suweida and don resist integration into di Syrian army – dem rely instead on local militias.
Despite say di Syrian govment condemn di recent attacks on Druze pipo and vow to restore order for southern Syria, dia forces don also chop accuse of attacking di minority – as di UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor wey dey document "summary executions" of Druze pipo by government forces.
Dat kain report don fuel mistrust among some members of di Druze community towards di authorities for Damascus.
Afta Assad sudden fall, Israel don reach out to di Druze community near dia northern border in a bid to forge alliances wit di Syria minorities. Dem don increasingly position diasef as regional protector of minorities, wey include di Kurds, Druze and Alawites for Syria, while attacking military sites for Syria and government forces.
During di sectarian clashes for May, Israel bin carry out strikes near di presidential palace for Damascus, dem say na warning against attacks on di Druze.
However, some Druze figures for Syria and Lebanon don accuse Israel of fanning sectarian divisions to advance dia own expansionist aspirations for di region.
Why Israel dey attack Syria now?
Di most recent strikes don primarily act as warning to di Syrian army dem deploy to southern Syria, as Israel dey try to create a demilitarised zone for di area.
In particular, Israel dey fear di presence of Islamist fighters near dia northern border, along di Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
While di Israeli air strikes on 15 July bin only target di security forces and vehicles for Suweida, di Israeli military expand di scope of dia attacks on 16 July, wen dem strike di Ministry of Defence plus di Syrian army headquarters for Damascus.
Syria don condemn di attacks.
Di strikes represent di most serious Israeli escalation for Syria since December 2024, wen dem destroy hundreds of military sites across di kontri and seize one UN-patrolled buffer zone for di Syrian Golan Heights.
Israel don strike Syria multiple times, wit di intention of stopping di new authorities from building dia military capacities – wey dem view as potential threat to Israeli security.
"Di warnings for Damascus don end - now painful blows go come," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz write on social media on 16 July, shortly afta Israeli strikes on Damascus start.
Leading Syria TV Channel bin broadcast di targeting of di Syrian military headquarters live, from dia studios located across from di building – dem capture as di presenter run comot di studio as e still dey tok on air.
How di rest of di world take react?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tok say US dey "very concerned" about di violence and announce on 16 July say: "We don agree on specific steps wey go end dis troubling and horrifying situation dis tonight."
Several Arab states, including Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait, don condemn di Israeli strikes wey target Syrian government and security forces.
Saudi Arabia foreign ministry condemn wetin demm describe as "Israel blatant attacks" on Syria, while Iran describe di attacks as "all too predictable".
Turkey, one key stakeholder in post-Assad Syria, describe di strikes as " act of sabotage against Syria efforts to secure peace, stability and security".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemn Israel "escalatory" strikes for Suweida and Damascus.
Wetin fit happun next?
Di violence don expose di fragility of Syria post-war security and political landscape, wit di most recent spate of violence fuelling fears of renewed sectarian attacks across Syria.
As Sharaa attempt to establish control ova Syria and to unite dia various groups, e neva clear weda im Islamist-dominated government go fit reconcile Syria deep-rooted sectarian divisions, stoked by years of civil war.
Di sectarian clashes, along wit di Israeli strikes, threaten to derail attempts at state-building and post-war recovery.
Israel, for dia part, dey likely to continue to perceive di new authorities, and dia affiliated Islamist fighters for di south, as a significant security threat - pushing it to pursue alliances wit groups wey fit feel alienated by di new authorities.
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The Guardian
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Reported crime had dropped by nearly 20 percent over three years from 1954 to 1957, a 1978 Justice Department report noted. But a spate of violent offenses toward the end of the decade targeting public officials heightened public alarm. 'In August 1959 there was the mugging of the widow of former Deputy Defense Secretary Donald Quarles, the brandishing of a knife at Congressman Diggs, the murder of an Air Force sergeant, and a gang beating of a police officer,' the report said. 'These events mobilized renewed official concern and action.' In 1968, in the wake of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis and the subsequent riots that ignited across the country, Richard Nixon declared D.C. one of the 'crime capitals of the nation.' As anger rippled through the city, 13 people died in the violence and more than 900 businesses were destroyed. Police and firefighters became overwhelmed and federal troops moved in. 'The disorders and the crime and the violence that are now commonplace in Washington are more than a national disgrace,' Nixon said on the campaign trail, citing a 67 percent increase in the homicide rate between July 1967 and July 1968. Conservative lawmakers have for generations used denigrating language to describe the condition of major American cities and called for greater law enforcement, often in response to changing demographics in those cities driven by non-white populations relocating in search of work or safety from racial discrimination and state violence, the Associated Press noted. 1980s – late 1990s: A decade of 'unbelievable violence' Washington, D.C. was in the grip of a drug crisis from the late 1980s into the late 1990s as a crack cocaine epidemic, fueling gang violence, took hold. 'The city was going through a terrible time,' Ruben Castaneda, a former reporter at The Washington Post, told the BBC in 2014. 'Through the late 80s to mid-to-late 90s there were just unbelievable levels of violence behind crack cocaine, and fights over drug turfs, witness killings and retaliatory killings.' The annual homicide rate hit over 400 by 1989 as the city was once again branded the 'murder capital' of the U.S. Its image wasn't helped by the arrest of the city's scandal-plagued Mayor Marion Barry in 1991, who was caught on camera smoking crack cocaine in a sting operation. Despite serving a six-month prison sentence for cocaine possession in 1991, he remarkably reclaimed the job in 1995. Barry, who died in November 2014, wrote in his autobiography that back then he was fueled by a 'mix of power, attraction, alcohol, sex and drugs.' Despite his 'tumultuous' life, as former President Barack Obama put it, Barry was praised for advancing civil rights while he was in office. Meanwhile, by 1991, the city set a grim new record of 482 recorded murders, which was the worst murder rate in 20 years. 2000s – today: A declining crime rate but fears remain The levels of violence seen in the 80s and 90s are down a significant amount today. Lehman noted that a 2005 strategy targeting the people and places that drive violence, implemented by the Metropolitan Police Department and the federal government, saw homicide rates drop. 'The success of 2005's initiative shows that the administration does not need to preempt the District in order to bring crime down,' Lehman wrote in the Atlantic. In 2012, D.C. recorded an 'astoundingly low' 88 murders, which has ticked up again in the last 10 years, crime data analyst Jeff Asher, co-founder of the firm AH Datalytics, wrote in a Substack post. 'Murders in DC peaked in 2023, began falling in 2024, and have been steadily falling through July 2025,' Asher wrote. 'The bottom line is that violent crime in DC is currently declining and the city's reported violent crime rate is more or less as low now as it has been since the 1960s,' Asher added, with a disclaimer that not all crimes are reported to police. 'The city's official violent crime rate in 2024 was the second lowest that has been reported since 1966.' What is undeniable is the growing public concern over safety in D.C. A poll by The Washington Post conducted last year found that 65 percent of D.C. residents said crime is an 'extremely serious' or a 'very serious' problem, up from 56 percent in 2023. 'The city has a real problem,' Lehman said. 'Someone needs to be responsible for fixing it.'
