The Forgotten Druze: Syria's Overlooked Victims

The Druze of Syria stand on the brink of erasure, as their endurance is met with global silence.

Credit: Jalaa Marey / AFP - Getty Images

The Druze of Syria face a crisis that the world refuses to see. Located primarily in the Suwayda region in South Syria, this small religious minority has survived for centuries by maintaining a delicate balance in a region defined by sectarian violence and shifting empires. The Druze faith is an independent monotheistic religion with a distinct theology that emphasizes loyalty to the community, ethical living, and cautious engagement with the outside world. Throughout history, the Druze have resiliently protected their culture and their people, often standing alone against overwhelming odds. Today, their resilience is being tested once again.

More than a decade of Assad’s rule and Syrian Civil War has left Syria deeply fractured. The Druze find themselves caught between a weakened central government, rival armed groups, and regional actors with conflicting agendas. In mid-July 2025, government and affiliated forces extrajudicially executed 46 Druze men and women in Suwayda, targeting homes, a school, a hospital, and public spaces. But the killings were only one instance in a wider crisis. Weeks of clashes between Druze militias, Bedouin tribes, and government forces killed hundreds and displaced more than 160,000 people in July alone. UN experts documented that 105 Druze women and girls were abducted, some subjected to sexual violence, and many remain missing. 

At the same time, power, water, and telecommunications collapsed across much of Sweida city, while hospitals struggled to function under bombardment. For weeks, the main highway to Damascus was blocked, cutting off aid deliveries until late August until U.N. trucks finally gained access. Local Druze factions have mobilized to defend their communities with the newly formed Druze-led National Guard and smaller militias in Jaramana, yet they face threats far beyond what these groups can handle. The international response has been minimal.

Israel has stepped in, delivering 10,000 aid packages in March, offering medical treatment, and granting limited work permits in the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have provided critical, but limited assistance (including convoys delivering food, water, and medical supplies to tens of thousands in Suwayda and surrounding areas). Despite these efforts, the scale of the crisis far exceeds what any neighbor or aid group can provide. Beyond Israel’s relatively proactive support, much of the international community remains fatigued by years of conflict and largely disengaged from the fate of a people who are too often ignored.

This neglect is not a minor oversight, it is a moral failure. When governments and international institutions refuse to act, they set a dangerous precedent: small communities can be erased with impunity. The Druze, whose history is intertwined with the survival of pluralism in the Middle East, now risk being slowly erased. Their prayer houses and religious sanctuaries, schools, and cultural traditions face destruction. Their children grow up amid violence, and their elders witness neighbors who had lived alongside them for generations disappear or be displaced. The Druze do not merely suffer quietly; they organize, resist, and survive. But survival alone is not enough. Without consistent international attention and aid, centuries of culture and community could vanish.

There are actions that can be taken. Humanitarian aid must reach the most vulnerable. Those committing violence must face accountability. International actors must document abuses, amplify voices, and exert pressure on regional powers to protect minority communities. The Druze are not asking for intervention to fight their wars. They are demanding international recognition of what has happened in Suwayda, support in the form of humanitarian access and legal protection, and guarantees that future abuses, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and sexual violence will be investigated and punished so they might live without fear.

The story of the Druze is a reminder of the human cost of indifference. Their faith and culture have faced relentless challenges, yet endurance alone cannot protect a people from being erased. The international community stands at a crossroad; it can choose to uphold justice, human dignity, and the protection of minorities, or remain complicit through silence. The Druze do not seek intervention in their conflicts, but demand recognition, peace, and solidarity. Their survival is more than a humanitarian issue. It is a call to honor a people deeply rooted in the Middle East. The future of their legacy rests on the world’s commitment today.