By Aleteia-
In southern Syria, bloody clashes between Druze and Bedouins have left over 1,000 dead, prompted Israeli military intervention, and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. In the background, Syrian Christians suffer from looting, assassinations, and forced exoduses—collateral victims of tensions that push them closer each day to disappearance.
In a Syria still engulfed in flames, the Christian minority once again finds itself trapped, an eternal victim of sectarian fragmentation. Violent clashes between Druze and Bedouins in the Sweida region, in the south of the country, have resulted in more than 1,000 deaths, according to the latest figures from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Hundreds of Druze civilians have been summarily executed. Some 354 members of government forces and 21 Sunni Bedouins were also killed, including three civilians “executed by Druze fighters.”
In mid-July, intense fighting broke out between Druze and Sunni Bedouins. The armed forces of Ahmed al-Charaa’s government entered the city of Sweida to “restore order,” but allegedly committed abuses themselves by siding with the Bedouins. In support of the Druze minority, which has a significant presence in Israel, the Israeli army bombed several Syrian government sites in Damascus and elsewhere, before a ceasefire was declared. Nearly 130,000 people have been displaced by this wave of violence, according to the UN.
Amid the chaos, the Christian minority has not been spared. An evangelical pastor and his entire family were brutally murdered under still-unclear circumstances, though suspicion points to the Bedouins or the authorities, according to L’Œuvre d’Orient in a statement to Aleteia. Originally Druze, the pastor had converted to Christianity and came from Lebanon. “Khaled’s death isn’t directly tied to his Christian faith, but rather to his Druze identity. However, this tragedy reflects the persistent insecurity in Sweida, where civilians of all faiths are increasingly vulnerable to violence, exile, and fear,” a partner of the NGO Open Doors for the Levant told Evangelique.info.
Churches Burned
According to L’Œuvre d’Orient, homes in three mixed Christian-Druze villages were looted and then burned. The Melkite church in the village of Sara was also set on fire, and several hundred people are currently taking refuge in the Melkite parish of Shorba, the Capuchin Fathers’ church, and the Greek Orthodox Archbishopric of Sweida—all without access to water, food, or electricity.
On the ground, Christians remain on high alert, though clashes between the Druze and the central government are nothing new, reminds Vincent Gelot, project officer for L’Œuvre d’Orient in Syria and Lebanon. “These conflicts already existed during Assad’s time,” but the intensity of the current violence and the authorities’ involvement in the massacres—mainly against Druze civilians—is “unacceptable,” he denounced. L’Œuvre d’Orient has launched emergency aid to support displaced Christians and help rebuild their homes, which were completely destroyed.
A Community Facing Extinction
Weakened by years of civil war and terrorism, and living—like 95% of the Syrian population—below the poverty line, the Christians of the land of Saint Paul face more than ever the eternal dilemma of “to stay or to leave.” The Christian community in Syria had already suffered weeks earlier from a suicide bombing in a Damascus church, followed by the arson attack on a Greek Melkite Catholic church in Al-Soura al-Kabira (southwest of the country).
In March, massacres that mostly targeted Alawites also resulted in Christian deaths, renewing concerns over the country’s security. Far from easing intercommunal tensions, the rise to power of Ahmed al-Charaa, head of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTC), seems only to worsen the chaos and confusion. And Syrian Christians are paying the price: those who have lived on this land for more than 2,000 years are seeing their numbers steadily shrink year after year. From about 2 million before the Arab Spring in 2011, they have dropped to around 500,000 in 2024.
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https://fr.aleteia.org/2025/07/22/violences-a-soueida-les-chretiens-paient-le-prix-du-chaos-syrien/
