Hundreds Druze Breach Israel-Syria Border Amid Syria Clashes, Over 1,100 Dead

The Druze community near the Israeli-Syrian border and in southern Syria is facing severe violence and tragedy amid ongoing conflict. In Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Israeli Golan Heights, hundreds breached the border fence to reunite with family members after deadly clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin militias backed by the Syrian government led to over 1,100 deaths and 120,000 displacements. The violence has sparked emotional reunions and accusations against the Israeli government for insufficient action, despite Israeli strikes aimed at protecting Syrian Druze. A recent massacre in As-Suwayda resulted in the deaths of seven Druze relatives, including an American citizen, drawing international attention and pleas from survivors for global awareness and intervention. The Syrian-American community in Portland mourns those lost and calls for a safe humanitarian corridor as the conflict has devastated local physicians and civilians. The ceasefire brokered by the US allowed some aid into Sweida, but the sectarian violence underlines the fragile postwar situation in Syria and the ongoing threats to minority groups like the Druze.