An expert in Middle Eastern affairs has suggested that some believe Israel is capitalising on the region’s instability to target a long-standing adversary.
Following triumphs over Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration is now focusing on Syria, aiming to incapacitate military targets due to fears of an extremist regime forming in Damascus.
The air strikes at the heart of Damascus are part of a strategy to protect the Druze religious minority, who have a significant presence in Israel, and to push Islamic militants away from Israel’s border.
The escalating conflict poses a serious threat to Syria’s new rulers’ ability to maintain control after a rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted Bashar Assad, the country’s long-time autocratic leader, in December, ending a nearly 14-year civil war.
As fighting continued for days in Sweida, a southern Syrian city, between government forces and Druze armed groups, Israel launched numerous strikes targeting government troops and convoys, even hitting the Syrian Defence Ministry headquarters in Damascus. A renewed ceasefire has since been announced by Syrian government officials and Druze leader, reports Express US.
Dr Albert Wolf, a Global Fellow at Habib University in Pakistan, has suggested some believe that Israel may be using the Druze as a pretext, with its actual aim being to fragment Syria, which is its most enduring adversary in the region.
Speaking to the Express, Dr Wolf said: “Israel is fundamentally uncertain over the new government in Damascus’s intentions and worried about a potentially extremist regime consolidating power, hence the strikes on military targets.”
He elaborated on Israel’s historical strategy, saying, “Israel’s interest in protecting the Druze is a throwback to its early post-independence strategy known as the Periphery Doctrine.”
This strategic approach, which took shape in the 1950s under then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, was designed to mitigate Israel’s regional isolation by forming alliances beyond its immediate Arab neighbours.
Dr Wolf said: “At that time, Israel worked to establish relations with non-Arab states such as Iran and Turkey,” and added, “It also cultivated ties with the Kurds and Maronites to counterbalance Arab nationalism.
“Today, it is working with the Druze to counterbalance a potentially hostile regime, just as Israel has cultivated and maintained ties with the Kurds in Iraq, first to counter a hostile regime in Baghdad and, more recently, to balance against Iran.”
The Druze community, which practices a unique form of faith derived from Islam, has significant populations in both Syria and Israel, numbering approximately 700,000 and 120,000 respectively.
An additional 20,000 Druze are situated in the disputed Golan Heights territory. Israel’s Druze population is often seen as a powerful minority with key roles in the military hierarchy.
Yet, Dr Wolf commented: “Some suggest a more cynical motive is at play: this is merely being used as a justification for the use of force and to hasten the breakup of Syria.
“Syria has been Israel’s longest-standing rival. There have been a few attempts at peacemaking, such as with the short-lived dictator Husni al-Zaim, and the Clinton and Obama Administrations’ attempts to help bring about a land-for-peace agreement that would have involved exchanging the Golan Heights for normalization. None of these came to fruition.
“After the fall of Bashir al-Assad, Israel deployed troops to the UN-patrolled zone established in 1974 after the October War. The new government in Damascus has signaled interest in restoring the 1974 agreement.”
Israel remains engaged in conflict with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while currently maintaining a ceasefire with Iran after a 12-day skirmish.
Dr Wolf remarked: “After the October 7 attacks, Israel referred to the conflict as the seven-front war. Given the victories against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, although the latter is questionable, one would argue that Israeli decision-makers are feeling increasingly confident in their ability to eliminate threats.”
The impartial, independent Human Rights Data Analysis Group in San Francisco estimated in June that nearly 84,000 people had died in Gaza between October 2023 and early January 2025 due to conflict.
