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By Tom O'Connor
Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are sending additional troops to southern Syria, including personnel currently operating in the Gaza Strip, amid an intensification of Israeli strikes that mark the latest escalation in a multifront war that has ravaged the region for more than 21 months.
The developments come as Israeli officials continue to accuse the Syrian Interim Government of committing human rights violations against the country's Druze minority and threatening Israeli security. The allegations have been rejected by authorities in Damascus, where the Syrian military headquarters was targeted by the IDF on Wednesday amid rising tensions.
"We are reinforcing forces in the Golan Heights and along the border, ready for a multitude of scenarios," an Israeli military official told reporters on background Wednesday. "We're staying vigilant, reinforcing troops on the border, alongside the border police and our different groups."
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Some of the forces set to be deployed on this front include those "currently in Gaza," where the IDF has been at war with the Palestinian Hamas movement since the militant group's October 2023 attack that sparked the regional conflict.
The Israeli military official also addressed reports of hundreds of Israeli Druze crossing into Syria, confirming that "there were some incidents in which Israeli civilians have crossed the border into Syria, and we are operating to bring them back."
Asked by Newsweek how Israeli civilians were able to penetrate the heavily guarded Israeli border from within, the Israeli military official said the matter "would be looked into."
"Our border is very long, a large amount of civilians approaching it, and in the end of the day, our eyes and our focus is against different elements, rather than Israeli civilians," they said.
"It's something that we will have to study and learn how we can do better," the Israeli military official added, "and we're enforcing troops on the ground now to prevent this from happening either way, people infiltrating from Syria or Israeli civilians going into Syria."
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A Half-Century War Reignites
Israel and Syria have remained in a state of war since 1948, when Israel's declaration of independence on territory also claimed by Palestinians sparked the first of three major wars fought between the new state and coalitions of Arab states.
The 1967 Six-Day War later saw Israel assume control of Syria's southwestern Golan Heights region, later annexed by Israel in 1981 without international recognition. In 1973, Syria, then under the rule of President Hafez al-Assad, sought to reclaim the territory during the Yom Kippur War, but the conflict ended in another ceasefire, followed by a 1974 disengagement agreement that established a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone.
After his death in 2000, Assad's son, Bashar, took power and went on to lead for nearly 25 years, more than half of them with his country engulfed in a civil war during which he received backing from Russia and Iran.
In December, a surprise offensive led by Islamist rebels ultimately toppled the government, putting in power Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former associate of Al-Qaeda who has rejected jihadi ideologies in recent years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly took credit for setting the conditions for Assad's downfall, which came as Israel was engaged in combat on several fronts with Iran's Axis of Resistance coalition, which includes the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Yemen's Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthi movement.
While opposed to Assad, Netanyahu and his administration have also strongly criticized Sharaa, suspecting him of covertly pursuing extremist aims.
Upon the collapse of Assad's government, Netanyahu declared the 1974 disengagement agreement null and void and launched a large-scale series of airstrikes across Syrian military sites and infrastructure, as well as a ground invasion seizing more territory beyond the Golan Heights buffer zone.
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Who Are the Druze?
Netanyahu and his top officials have also expanded operations in Syria under the pretext of protecting the Druze, an ethnically Arab minority religious sect with a sizable presence in both Israel and Syria, as well as neighboring Lebanon.
While Sharaa has vowed to pursue a more inclusive future for Syria, including all of its ethnic and religious communities, his six-month rule has been dogged by persistent reports of security forces, including former Islamist militiamen hailing from abroad, targeting minorities.
An investigation conducted by Reuters and published earlier this month found that some 1,500 members of the Alawite sect, another religious minority group of which the Assad family are members, had been killed during a series of massacres along the west coast regions in March.
Syrian security forces have also clashed with Druze militias operating in the southern rural Damascus city of Jaramana as well as the province of Al-Sweida, the heartland of Syrian Druze. Tensions appeared to abate briefly in May, but have since reignited in recent days.
The Syrian interim government has claimed it was deploying security forces to majority-Druze regions to restore order amid violence between Druze militias and Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribal groups. The deployment and a reported ceasefire were initially welcomed by Druze religious leaders on Tuesday, only for Druze Spiritual Presidency head Hikmat al-Hijri to then accuse the government and allied forces of waging a "complete war of extermination" against his community.
Another ceasefire attempt was announced later Wednesday by both the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency and Druze leader Youssef Jarbou. Shortly after, however, the Druze Spiritual Presidency issued a statement emphasizing "the necessity of continuing our legitimate defense and continuing the fight until the entire territory of our province is liberated from these gangs unconditionally."
"We also assure local and international public opinion that there is no agreement, negotiation, or authorization with these armed gangs that falsely call themselves a government," the Druze Spiritual Presidency said.
"We warn that any person or entity that deviates from this unified position and engages in unilateral communication or agreement will expose itself to legal and social accountability without exception or leniency," it added.
Newsweek has reached out to Druze Spiritual Presidency and the Syrian Information Ministry for comment.
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The U.S. Position
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly warned Sharaa and his government against targeting minority communities, including Alawites, Druze and Kurds.
At the same time, Trump has shifted his position on Sharaa in recent months, who took power just over a month before the U.S. leader's inauguration in January. Trump briefly met with Sharaa during a visit to Saudi Arabia in May, announcing a lifting of sanctions against Syria and later revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation of Sharaa's former Hayat Tahrir al-Sham faction.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the latest developments in Syria during a press engagement alongside his Bahraini counterpart on Wednesday.
"We're going to be working on that issue," Rubio said in response to a reporter's question about the Israeli strikes. "I just got off the phone with the relevant parties. We're very concerned about it. And I'll see if we have some updates later today for you."
He added: "We're very concerned and we want it to stop."
Rubio later referred to the situation as "complicated" involving "historic, long-term rivalries between different groups in the southwest of Syria, Bedouins, the Druze community, and it led to an unfortunate situation, and a misunderstanding, it looks like between the Israeli side and the Syrian side."
"We've been engaged with them all morning long, and all night long, and with both sides," Rubio said. "And we think we're on our way towards a real de-escalation and then hopefully get back on track in helping Syria build a country and having a situation there in the Middle East that is far more stable."
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reiterated these remarks during a press briefing Wednesday and further stated that the U.S. was calling on both Israeli troops and Syrian security forces to withdraw from the area.
The Region Reacts
The escalation of violence in Syria and Israel's intensification of attacks have been met with deep concern from leaders who have expressed hope that Sharaa would usher in a new era of stability for his country and a region still reeling from a 12-day war fought last month between Iran and Israel that saw unprecedented direct U.S. intervention.
Both Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council, the six-member body that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have condemned Israel's strikes.
Also voicing opposition to the Israeli campaign was Turkey, whose foreign ministry accused Israel of attempting to "sabotage" Syria's path to recovery after Assad's ouster. Ankara played a key role in supporting Syrian insurgent groups that overthrew the government in December and Trump has credited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with convincing him to lift sanctions on Syria.
The Turkish leader has also repeatedly warned Israel over its actions in Syria and Gaza.
As the war in Gaza continues to rage on in the absence of a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations, Hamas, which fostered ties with both Syria's former opposition and government amid the country's civil war, issued its own statement denouncing Israel's attacks in Syria and called for international intervention.
"We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal Zionist aggression and bombardment on the Syrian capital Damascus this afternoon, along with all attacks on Syrian territory," Hamas said. "The occupation's actions represent a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty, organized terrorism, and aggression aimed at undermining Syria's stability and territorial integrity."
"We call upon the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the UN to condemn this Zionist escalation that only fuels tensions further," the group added, "and to take concrete measures to stop the occupying entity's arrogance, which poses a direct threat to regional security and the interests of its peoples."
Update 4:45 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include additional quotes and context.
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