Targeted by lies: what’s happening to the Druze Community in Syria - and how Israel is responding

Over the past few weeks, the Druze community in Syria has come under brutal attack. The pretext? A fake video allegedly showing a Druze man cursing the Prophet Muhammad. But the video was fabricated - created using AI.

Despite being debunked by Druze religious leaders, who quickly confirmed that the voice and image were not real, radical Islamist factions - especially Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly linked to al-Qaeda - used the clip to incite sectarian violence.

Then, the killings began.

HTS-led groups began attacking Druze neighborhoods in and around Jaramana, Sahnaya, and Sweida. Civilians were targeted, houses were raided, and young men were executed, making the attack feel like a planned purge.

Members of the Druze community.

Why the Druze?

The Druze are a small religious minority with deep roots in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Known for their loyalty to the state they live in, the Druze in Syria have largely stayed neutral in the civil war. But their refusal to submit to jihadist ideology - and their very identity - makes them a target.

Their families in Israel’s Golan Heights are watching in horror. Some have family members just across the border. Some have heard nothing for days. All of them know exactly what this kind of violence means.

Israel steps in

Israel’s response was swift. Though it normally avoids open involvement in Syria’s internal affairs, the government made an exception this time, swearing to protect the brothers and sisters of the Druze Community in Israel.

• The IDF launched targeted airstrikes against HTS positions in southern Syria, including near Damascus.

• The Israeli army opened the Quneitra border crossing - normally closed since the Syrian civil war began - to transfer humanitarian aid into Druze villages under siege.

• Wounded Druze civilians were brought into Israeli hospitals for emergency treatment.

• Israeli Druze leaders, like Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, publicly urged the state to act - and their voices were heard.

Israel is not only acting militarily. It’s showing a rare form of moral clarity: defending a persecuted minority beyond its borders.

Druze on both sides of the fence

The story isn’t just military - it’s deeply personal. For the Druze of Israel, in the Golan and the Galilee, this isn’t just news. It’s family. It’s history.

Many of them still have relatives in Sweida, a majority-Druze region in southern Syria. Cross-border weddings, funerals, and family ties were a norm before the Syrian war shut everything down.

That bond never disappeared.

And now, as the Syrian Druze are being hunted over a lie, their relatives in Israel are pushing their government to do more - because their silence could mean someone else’s death.

Where does this go next?

The use of AI in this context isn’t just dangerous - it’s deadly. When manipulated to fabricate religious offenses, artificial intelligence becomes a modern tool for ancient hatreds. In regions like the Middle East, where sectarian tensions are always simmering, even a single fake video can be enough to justify mass violence. What happened to the Druze in Syria is a chilling warning: when truth can be manufactured, and lies weaponized, entire communities become vulnerable to erasure. The world must confront not only the ethical risks of AI, but also the very real human cost of using technology to inflame religious conflict.