Druze protesters take to the streets, demand Israel step in to aid community in Syria

Druze protesters block roads in northern Israel during a protest calling for the government to assist the Druze community in Syria amid sectarian violence that has claimed dozens of lives in recent days.

The protesters shut down several key traffic routes in the north of the country, including a portion of Highway 6 between the Tel Kashish Junction and Ein Tut Junction. Highway 85 was also closed to traffic at the Rama Intersection, as was Highway 65 at the Tzalmon Interchange.

According to Ynet, a large number of those protesting are Druze IDF reservists who believe that Israel is failing their community inside Syria.

“We’re receiving increasing reports from our brothers that Sheikhs are going out to defend their villages themselves and are being slaughtered, while Israel stands by and doesn’t do anything to stop these atrocities as they promised they would,” one reservist tells the news outlet.

“There is a historic covenant between the Jews and the Druze, and just as we stood up to fight for the state and die if necessary, at every opportunity and in particular in the face of the horrors of October 7, we must stand up and stop the current atrocities in Syria that are directed at our brothers,” he adds.

♦️ כביש 6 חסום משני הכיוונים בצומת אליקים על ידי מספר מפגינים דרוזים שמבעירים צמיגים במחאה על רצח דרוזים בסוריה.
המשטרה בינתיים לא מתערבת. pic.twitter.com/adCuVbnamz

— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) May 1, 2025