Israel says it’s allowing Syrian forces to enter Sweida for 48 hours amid renewed clashes

4 comments

1. SS: In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the [Syrian] internal security forces into Sweida district for the next 48 hours.

   Deadly violence has plagued Sweida province since Sunday, as Druze fighters clashed with Sunni Bedouin tribes, who were later joined by government forces.

   At least 13 people were unlawfully killed in one recorded incident on July 15 when affiliates of the interim authorities opened fire at a family gathering, the OHCHR said. Six men were summarily executed near their homes the same day.

   Israel said Friday it was sending humanitarian aid to Sweida province.

2. How generous of Israel to allow the Syrian government to operate within the borders of Syria.

3. The Druze people of Israel, being basically the only free Druze people living on their native land in the world are very loud and very insistent. They were going to cross into Syria to save their comrades whether Israel intervened or not, at least with the IDF stepping in there’s some organization happening.

4. We must consider the realist aspects.

   Syria and Israel have an irreconcilable territorial dispute – Golan Heights. It is irreconcilable because Syria has a nationalist/irredentist claim to that territory which will never go away, and Israel has a security claim due to its lack of strategic depth, hydrosecurity requirements and the highground issue which also will never go away, making land-for-peace similar to the Israel-Egypt detente a non-starter. Israel knows that Syria will likely come for that territory if it’s powerful enough, regardless of documents signed today by a leader who may not be around in 30 years anyway. Therefore, Israel wants to preempt that by balkanizing Syria and creating that future security reality on the ground, instead of just hoping for it.

   Even without the irreconcilable Golan issue, Israel does not want a Turkey and Qatar-aligned homogeneous and growing Sunni Syria on its border, which is significant security motive to balkanize Syria on its own.

   Obviously, Syria and its backers in Turkey and Qatar have a strong motive to prevent all this from happening. Turkey wants a unified Syria as part of their containment policy and strategic depth and offshore balancing against Israel, and to prevent Israel’s ability to use Kurdish separatism for those same ends but in the opposite direction. That’s why you see Turkish-owned trucks transporting Arab militias and Qatari state run media which is consumed across the Arab world ginning up morale among those same militias in order to scupper Israel’s plans to exert a security monopoly in the south in the last few days via a strategy of creating chaos, which then angers Israel’s patrons in the US and strengthens Turkey’s position that Israel should not be able to enforce its agenda to demilitarize the South. It’s a proxy war. It’s not ONLY a proxy war, but it also is a proxy war.

Comments are closed.