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Syrian Druze Villagers Call to Join Israel
Druze people hold a rally in Majdal Shams near the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, October 6, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.
JNS.org – Druze community leaders in southern Syria spoke in favor of being annexed to Israel’s Golan Heights overnight Thursday, speaking amid fears of retribution by Sunni Islamist rebels who recently toppled the Assad regime, to which they have been historically loyal.
According to unverified videos posted to social media, the pronouncement was made during a council meeting of six Druze villages held in Hader in the Jabal al-Sheikh region on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
A translation of the video quoted a local Druze representative as asking, “What’s our fate, my brothers?” with the crowd responding: “Israel.”
He continues: “In the name of all the people of Hader, and if anyone objects, please say,” with no objections heard. “If we have to choose, we will choose the lesser evil, and even if it’s considered evil to ask to be annexed to the [Israeli] Golan. But it’s a much lesser evil than the evil coming our way. … That evil might take our women, might take our daughters. They might take our homes.”
Syria is home to more than 600,000 Druze, the largest Druze community in the world. Most reside in the Jabal al-Druze (“Mountain of the Druze”) area in the southeast of the country. More than 20,000 Druze reside in four villages in the Israeli Golan Heights.
The Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law in 1981, applying Israel’s government and laws to the Golan Heights. In 2019, under then-President Donald Trump, the U.S. recognized the Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel.
The Druze population in Israel is estimated at over 150,000—about 1.6% of the population, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
A religious sect that began in Egypt about a thousand years ago as an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, the Druze, who number about one million worldwide, primarily live in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, as well as in smaller communities in Western cities around the globe.
The insular and close-knit Druze faith was influenced by the Quran, Christianity and Judaism, as well Greek philosophy and Eastern mysticism, according to the American Druze Foundation.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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