Explained: Why Syria’s Druze are trapped between Islamist groups and Israel

Damascus: 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 which has been caught up in deadly clashes with armed groups linked to the government in recent days.

The Druze community accounted for around three per cent of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million, or around 700,000 people.

They are concentrated in the southern province of Sweida with smaller pockets around Damascus.

Druze are monotheistic and considered Muslim, but the sect is otherwise highly secretive and does not accept converts.

They are viewed with suspicion by Islamist groups, who count among the ranks of Syria’s new government whose roots are in the Al Qaida terror network.

In Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, there are around 150,000 Druze.

Most of those in Israel hold Israeli citizenship and serve in the military.

By contrast, most of the roughly 23,000 who live in the annexed Golan do not hold Israeli citizenship and still identify as Syrians.

Some 200,000 Druze live in Lebanon.

Syria’s Druze largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war which erupted in 2011 after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests.

Druze forces focused on defending their heartland from attacks and largely avoided conscription into the Syrian armed forces.

Sweida province saw more than a year of anti-government protests before Assad’s ouster.

The Druze formed their own armed groups during the war. Some have begun negotiations with Damascus on integration into the new national army, following similar moves by armed factions elsewhere.

Rayan Maarouf, chief editor of local news outlet Suwayda24, said some 400 Druze fighters had joined the defence ministry’s forces and around 500 others had joined the General Security agency.

Assad hails from Syria’s Alawite community and as president sought to present himself as protector of all minority groups against the Islamist-led rebels.

The new government has repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected.

But last month saw sectarian massacres in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast and this week several dozen people, including Druze fighters, have been killed in sectarian clashes near Damascus.