This is Beirut - Damascus

The Leader of a Palestinian Group Based in Syria Arrested in Damascus

This is Beirut, 03/05 17:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Palestine Hamas Israel United States

Officials of a small Palestinian militant group that was close to ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said their leader was arrested Saturday by the country's new Islamist-led authorities. The arrest of the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) came after the armed wing of another Palestinian ...

Syria: UN Envoy Denounces Israeli Strikes and Calls for De-escalation

This is Beirut, 03/05 15:37 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Israel

United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen on Saturday urged Israel to immediately stop its attacks on Syria, after strikes including one near Damascus's presidential palace, which followed sectarian violence this week. Fresh overnight strikes were reported, coming as Israel has repeatedly said its forces were ready to protect the Druze ...

Syria Slams “Dangerous Escalation” After Israeli Strike in Damascus

This is Beirut, 02/05 22:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Benjamin Netanyahu Israel

Syria's Islamist rulers on Friday denounced an air strike near the presidential palace as a "dangerous escalation", as Israel called it a "clear message" not to harm the Druze minority. The dawn strike came hours after senior Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to Damascus and rejected any call for secession. They also ...

Syria: Drone Strike Kills Four Druze Fighters in Sweida

This is Beirut, 02/05 21:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Israel United Kingdom

Four Druze fighters were killed on Friday in a drone strike targeting Syria’s southern province of Sweida, a stronghold of the Druze minority, according to a rights group, which did not specify who carried out the attack. “Four Druze fighters were killed on a farm in Kanaker in an explosion that coincided with the overflight of a drone,” ...

Who Are the New Security Forces in Syria ?

This is Beirut, 02/05 19:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus

Deadly sectarian violence in Syria this week between security forces and Druze fighters follows massacres of Alawites in March, with government forces and affiliated gunmen involved in both outbreaks. Many questions have been raised on the identity of fighters in the country's new security forces, and the interim government's ability to control ...

Israel Threatens Action if Syrian Regime Fails to Shield Druze Minority

This is Beirut, 01/05 21:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Israel Israel Katz

Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday that Israel will respond forcefully if Syria's Islamist-led government fails to protect the Druze minority, after two days of deadly sectarian clashes near Damascus. "Should the attacks on the Druze resume and the Syrian regime fail to prevent them, Israel will respond with significant force," Katz ...

UN Condemns 'Unacceptable' Syria Violence

This is Beirut, 30/04 19:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United Nations Benjamin Netanyahu Damascus Israel

The United Nations special envoy for Syria on Wednesday condemned the "unacceptable" violence rocking the country after deadly sectarian clashes and called for an immediate halt to Israeli air strikes. The envoy, Geir Pedersen, was "alarmed" at "the potential for further escalation of an extremely fragile situation" after violent clashes around ...

Israel Strikes Syria, Citing Threat to Druze Community Amid Rising Tensions

This is Beirut, 30/04 19:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Damascus Druze

Israel has confirmed a strike in southern Syria targeting what it described as an "extremist group" preparing to attack members of the Druze minority in the town of Sahnaya, near Damascus. According to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the operation served as a warning and was aimed at preventing further ...

Abi Al-Muna Warns of Sectarian Provocations Following Deadly Clashes in Syria

This is Beirut, 30/04 18:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Druze community ISLAM Sami Abil-Mona Druze Religious Council

Sheikh Sami Abi Al-Muna, the Sheikh Akl (spiritual leader) of the Druze community in Lebanon, strongly condemned recent violence in the Syrian town of Jaramana, describing it as “a deliberate attempt to provoke sectarian strife,” triggered by an incendiary audio recording deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. In a statement issued ...

Syria's Druze: A Minority Caught Between Islamist Government and Israel

This is Beirut, 30/04 17:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

Syria's small Druze community largely kept out of the country's long civil war, but since President Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December, it has found itself confronting the new Islamist-led government amid military intervention by Israel. Here is a profile of the religious minority that has been caught up in deadly clashes with armed ...

16 Killed as Sectarian Clashes Near Damascus Spread: Authorities, Monitor

This is Beirut, 30/04 15:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Israel syria

Sectarian clashes between forces linked to Syria's new authorities and Druze fighters spread overnight near Damascus, leaving 16 people dead, state media and a monitor said Wednesday. The expanding violence is a major challenge to the Islamist authorities who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December and comes after sectarian massacres ...

Joumblatt Steps In to End Deadly Clashes Near Damascus as Israel Strikes Syria

This is Beirut, 30/04 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Israel Druze Walid Joumblatt Syria Islamists

A ceasefire between gunmen linked to Syrian authorities and Druze fighters was reportedly reached on Wednesday, following intensive mediation by former Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Joumblatt. The effort involved contacts with the new Syrian administration, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, according to al-Markazia news ...