Overview

• More than 100 people were killed this week in sectarian clashes involving Druze fighters, Syrian security forces, and Sunni gunmen in Jaramana, Sahnaya, and Sweida.
• The violence was reportedly triggered by an audio recording deemed blasphemous, attributed to a Druze cleric who has denied the allegations.
• Israel conducted airstrikes near the Syrian presidential palace, with Prime Minister Netanyahu warning against threats to the Druze minority and vowing further action if violence continues.
• Syrian Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri condemned the violence as a 'genocidal campaign' and called for immediate international peacekeeping intervention to protect his community.
• Syria’s transitional government announced a local truce and deployed forces to secure affected areas, while rejecting calls for foreign intervention as divisive and counterproductive.