A senior Druze IDF commander warns that Syrian forces are besieging and massacring Druze communities in Suweida—prompting urgent calls for US and Israeli intervention.
Haifa, Israel (July 17, 2025) — In a chilling briefing delivered by a senior Druze leader and former IDF commander, it has been revealed that Syrian security forces are committing atrocities against the Druze population of southern Syria’s Suweida province—home to over 800,000 Druze.
Mark Zell, Vice President of Republicans Overseas and Chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, reported the following firsthand findings after a high-level meeting on the crisis:
- Highway 110, the critical lifeline into Suweida, has been completely sealed off by Syrian forces, cutting humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of civilians.
- Even routes from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights into Druze areas are blocked by regime troops, deliberately starving entire communities.
- In a grotesque act of cruelty, the central bakery in Umm el-Zeitun was seized, crippling food supply. Over 1,000 Druze civilians have already been murdered.
- The main hospital in Suweida was attacked, with Syrian troops killing the entire medical staff and every patient. Their bodies remain inside, inaccessible due to regime snipers who are preventing burial or medical rescue.
- Thirty-five Druze villages along the Damascus–Suweida ridge are now under full military occupation, with ongoing massacres and ethnic cleansing, despite public claims of a ceasefire.
- Alarmingly, the Trump Administration is reportedly blocking Israeli military intervention, despite Israel’s readiness to clear key roads and deliver aid.
- A nearby 800-man US military force—stationed not far from Suweida—could be redeployed to secure medical routes and allow emergency humanitarian access.
- Aid through Jordan is unfeasible, leaving Israel as the only viable access point.
- Beyond the humanitarian catastrophe, this growing crisis poses a direct military threat to Israel and Jordan, as Syrian territory is now home to 30,000 battle-hardened non-Arab jihadis from Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Unless President Trump gives Israel the green light, or authorizes the redeployment of US forces in Syria, the Druze of Suweida face total extermination.
“Without action now, the thousand-year-old Druze civilization in southern Syria will be erased from the earth,” warned Zell.
Republicans Overseas Israel, along with Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis, are issuing an urgent plea to President Trump and his administration:
“Mr. President, the time to act is now. Do not turn a blind eye as our Druze brothers and sisters are starved, hunted, and executed. Let Israel defend the innocent. Let us save the Druze from annihilation.”