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Netanyahu Defines Israel’s Policy in Syria as Demilitarization, Druze Protection
Smoke rises while Syrian security forces sit in the back of a truck as Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday following two days of clashes, in Sweida, Syria July 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday outlined Israel’s two primary strategic goals in Syria as ensuring southern Syria is demilitarized and protecting the Druze religious minority in the same area.
“We have set forth a clear policy: demilitarization of the region to south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights and to the Druze Mountain area. That’s rule number one. Rule number two is protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze at the Druze Mountain,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“Both those rules were broken by the regime in Damascus,” the Israeli premier continued. “The [Syrian] regime sent troops south of Damascus, into the region that has to be demilitarized, and began slaughtering the Druze. That we could not accept in any way, and I therefore directed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces to take action — and take powerful action. The Air Force attacked both the gangs of murderers and the armored vehicles. I added another target, to also attack the Ministry of Defense in Damascus.”
Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, damaging the defense ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.
The strikes came after days of heavy fighting broke out in the predominately Druze city of Sweida, where local Druze fighters clashed with regime forces amid growing tensions and reports of atrocities against civilians.
Clashes between Druze and the Bedouins, a collection of Sunni Muslim farmers who have long-standing frictions with the Druze, earlier this week prompted the Islamist-led Syrian government to send troops to Sweida to quell the fighting, but the violence then escalated.
The Israeli strikes followed appeals from Druze leaders who accused the regime of waging “a war of extermination.”
Druze are followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam and spread between Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has consistently vowed to prevent them from deploying forces in southern Syria, which borders northeastern Israel, and pledged to protect the region’s Druze community — motivated in part by appeals from Israel’s own Druze minority.
“We will not allow Syrian army forces to enter the region south of Damascus, and will not allow any harm to the Druze at the Druze Mountain,” Netanyahu said on Thursday.
PM Netanyahu:
“I would like to brief you on what we have done in Syria, and what we are going to do in Syria.
We have set forth a clear policy: demilitarization of the region to south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights and to the Druze Mountain area. https://t.co/PmvHEprmfC pic.twitter.com/36CEpSxIer— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 17, 2025
His statement came after Syrian government officials and Druze leaders announced a renewed ceasefire on Wednesday — a development for which the Israeli premier took credit.
“As a result of that powerful action [the Israeli strikes], a ceasefire came into force, and the Syrian forces retreated back to Damascus. That is important,” Netanyahu said. “This is a ceasefire that was reached through strength. Not by making requests, not by begging — through strength.”
Netanyahu’s statement came after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa accused Israel of fueling instability in his country.
In a televised speech on Thursday, Sharaa condemned what he described as “Israeli interference disguised as protection for the Druze community” — just hours after the ceasefire took effect and regime forces began withdrawing from the southern province.
“The Israeli entity is trying to turn our land into a theater of chaos,” the Syrian leader said. “Since the regime fell, Israel has sought to dismantle Syria.”
Sharaa said Israel’s airstrikes had only escalated tensions, accusing the Jewish state of targeting both civilian and government infrastructure in an effort to sabotage Syria’s new government and its attempts to restore order.
“Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies,” Sharaa added. “We, the people of Syria, know who is trying to drag us into war and divide us.”
“They want to ignite a conflict on our soil to split our homeland and spread destruction,” he continued.
In his Thursday speech, Sharaa spoke directly to the Druze community, emphasizing their integral role in the country and affirming the government’s commitment to safeguarding their rights and unity.
“You are an inseparable part of our nation. Syria will never be a place for division or internal strife,” Sharaa said. “Protecting your rights and freedoms is a top priority. We reject any effort to lure you into siding with foreign interests.”
The US-brokered ceasefire announced on Wednesday following a previous attempt that had collapsed, amid mounting international pressure to resolve the conflict.
The newly brokered ceasefire paves the way for Sweida’s full integration into the government, requiring regime forces to withdraw from the southern region and transferring security responsibilities to local Druze fighters.
Sharaa became Syria’s transitional president after leading a rebel campaign that ousted long-time leader Bashar al-Assad, whose brutal and authoritarian Iran-backed rule had strained ties with the Arab world during the nearly 14-year Syrian war.
The collapse of Assad’s regime was the result of an offensive spearheaded by Sharaa’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al Qaeda affiliate.
Despite reservations about the nascent Syrian regime, Israeli officials have expressed interest in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversary Syria if certain conditions are met.
The US under President Donald Trump has lifted sanctions on the Syrian government and pushed for the new regime to normalize relations with Israel. US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack recently called for a non-aggression pact between the long-time Middle Eastern foes, saying that he believes peace between Israel and Syria is possible.
The post Netanyahu Defines Israel’s Policy in Syria as Demilitarization, Druze Protection first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.