(16 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Majdal Shams, Golan Heights – 16 July 2025
1. Various of Druze community members crossing into Syria through gate separating the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria
2. Druze community religious leaders chanting as they walk towards border gate UPSOUND (Arabic) "We sacrifice our soul and blood for Sweida.”
3. Various of Druze community members clapping and chanting
4. Man yelling in crowd
5. Druze community members crossing into Syria
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Yosef Dabous, local resident:
"We are calling on the world to help us and to call the government, if we can call this a government, to stop those terrorist attacks on our people. And so yeah, that’s why we are here on the border to reach our voice all over the world to stop this killing and murder against our people in Syria."
7. Various of Druze community members crossing into Syria
8. Family members from both sides of the border reuniting and hugging
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Majd Shaer, local resident:
"I have an especially big family there (in Sweida), they suffered a lot there. They have been killed and and it’s hard for us to stand here, not doing anything."
10. Various of Druze community members in Israeli-controlled Golan Heights
11. Various of Israeli police at border crossing
12. Members of the Druze community crossing into Syria
STORYLINE:
Members of the Druze community in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and villages in northern Israel were seen crossing over the border into Syria on Wednesday as clashes between government forces and Syria’s Druze factions intensified.
Some met with members of the Syrian Druze community who gathered on the other side of the fence at the border in a show of support and to demand the Israeli government act in order to defend them.
The Israeli military said dozens have tried to cross into Israel.
The Israeli military launched Wednesday a rare airstrike in the heart of Damascus, hitting the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters as clashes in the southern Syrian city of Sweida continued to flare.
As clashes have raged for days in Sweida between government forces and Druze armed groups, Israel has launched a series of strikes targeting government troops and convoys, which it says are in support of the religious minority group, and has vowed to escalate its involvement.
It has also beefed up its forces along its border with Syria.
The latest escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province.
Government forces that intervened to restore order then clashed with the Druze.
The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam.
More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria.
Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military.
In Syria, the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country’s new leaders, with some advocating for integrating into the new system while others have remained suspicious of the authorities in Damascus and pushed for an autonomous Druze region.
AP video shot by Leo Correa and Fernanda Pesce
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