A spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze community has suggested that the country’s Sweida province be integrated into Israel.
Speaking at an event to mark the first anniversary of violent sectarian unrest in the southern province, Hikmat al-Hijri said his home’s autonomy could be preserved under the protection or even “integration with another state”.
“We are determined to preserve our autonomy in Sweida so that we can live an independent life and present people with a model for this region,” he said.
“We will never forget those who stood by us. I would especially like to mention the State of Israel, given our geographical proximity, and we return respect to those who respect us, and we build on their support so that we may live in safety.”
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, there have been outbursts of violence between different sects and communities in the country.
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While President Ahmed al-Sharaa has promised to protect minorities, his role as the former leader of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front – which carried out sectarian massacres against Druze during the Syrian civil war – has raised fears of reprisals by his security forces.
Last year, armed attacks on security forces by suspected Assad loyalists in the coastal Alawite heartland of Latakia spiralled into brutal sectarian bloodshed.
At least 1,500 Alawites, a religious group that the Assad family belonged to, were killed in the subsequent violence, with a Reuters investigation tracing much of it back to security officials in Damascus.
Meanwhile the violence in Sweida – which began with clashes between Druze factions and Bedouin fighters in the southern province – left more than 2,000 people dead, including 789 Druze civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Sweida violence also saw Israel launching air strikes in the province as well as in the capital Damascus, nominally in support of the Druze minority.
Views on Israel have been split within the Druze community.
Hijri is widely seen as being the leader of the most overtly pro-Israel political and militia factions in Sweida and has repeatedly praised the country’s intervention.
New parliament
Syria’s transitional parliament held its first session on Sunday, with Sharaa heralding a “new chapter”.
Sharaa hand-picked a third of the seats, while the remaining two-thirds were chosen by local committees made up of government appointees.
The process bypassed Sweida province, as well as the Kurdish-held northeast with their 32 seats remaining empty.
The new interim authorities say popular elections are unworkable in the wake of Syria’s 13-year war, which saw hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced both internally and externally.
But the selection process has dismayed many Syrian pro-democracy campaigners who had hoped for change after the ousting of Assad’s highly authoritarian regime.
In his opening remarks, Sharaa called on lawmakers to be “models of responsibility and competence, and to contribute to establishing a culture of dialogue, the rule of law, and respect for institutions”.
