Ever since the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) conquered the Syrian capital Damascus with Turkey’s help in December of 2024, HTS fighters and their affiliated militias — often offshoots of ISIS and al-Qaeda — have been massacring religious minorities throughout the country. The internet has been flooded with images — some discredited as old or manipulated, but many not — of Alawite men, women and children being barbarically shot at close range.

Most recently, after slaughtering Alawites, HTS and Syria’s new Islamic regime, under the self-proclaimed “presidency” of former jihadist commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, are massacring other religious minorities in the country, including Christians and Druze.

HTS is still designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, EU, US and UK.

The ongoing massacres against religious minorities in Syria should not surprise anyone given that the country is currently ruled by al-Sharaa, a former member of al-Qaeda and the al-Nusra Front. He joined offshoots of al-Qaeda in 2003, fought for the terror group in Iraq for several years, and was imprisoned by the Americans between 2006 and 2011.

As journalist Adi Nirman notes:

“Al-Sharaa, who until recently was known by his alias ‘al-Julani,’ is a longtime jihadist who was part of the ranks of organizations associated with al-Qaida and ISIS, and even orchestrated an attack against Israel – milestones that led to his designation as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ by the US, with a reward of approximately $10 million for information leading to his capture.”

In 2011, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — then the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), previously known as al-Qaeda in Iraq — sent al-Sharaa to spearhead his group’s entry into Syria.

The U.S. State Department designated al-Sharaa as a terrorist in 2013. Its “Rewards for Justice” program offered $10 million for information leading to him, and noted that “he remains the leader of [the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra], which is at the core of HTS.”

President Joe Biden rescinded that bounty in December 2024, presumably in the hope that al-Sharaa would turn out to be another Konrad Adenauer, who healed Germany after the Second World War.

The UN Security Council nevertheless designates HTS as a terrorist group due to its links with al-Qaeda and ISIS. The designation has been transposed to EU law and — theoretically — is to be followed by all 27 EU member states.

Qatar and Turkey are apparently the powers behind the new regime in Damascus. Turkey’s involvement in the rise of HTS appears to be extensive. Both Turkey and HTS both been have been occupying and exploiting parts of northwest Syria since at least 2017. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan evidently provided arms and assistance to the HTS during its December advance to Damascus and allowed the terror group to run a key border crossing in northwest Syria.

Since HTS took over Syria, jihadists have committed massacres against the members of the Alawite minority, and the persecution of Syrian Christians has skyrocketed.

Starting in April, rampant violence has been committed against the Druze by Syria’s new government. Al-Sharaa seems to be hoping that dapper Western tailoring will fool the West into assuming that his thoughts align with his wardrobe. The Sunni Muslims of HTS have caused the deaths of countless Druze civilians. Videos posted on social media show HTS forces executing Druze civilians in the town of Sahnaya. Other HTS footage shows Druze civilians abducted and humiliated.

The Druze are just one of the many religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East. Separated by national borders drawn after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1923, more than a million now live scattered among Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

A leader of Syria’s Druze minority, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, has condemned the jihadist violence in Jaramana and Sahnaya, towns near Damascus, as a “genocidal campaign” against Syrian Druze. Hijri urged immediate intervention by “international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes”.

Syria’s new regime announced that to ensure security, it would deploy forces in Sahnaya, and accused “outlaw groups” of instigating the clashes.

Hijri said he no longer trusts “an entity pretending to be a government… because the government does not kill its people through its extremist militias… and then claim they were unruly elements after the massacres”. “The government [should] protect its people,” he added.

The attacks against the Druze came after a “deepfake” video was circulated on social media that showed a Syrian Druze Sheikh, Marwan Kiwan, appearing to denounce Islam’s prophet Mohammed, angering Muslims. According to a report in the Abu-Dhabi-based news website The National:

“Druze spiritual leaders and Muslims across the country warned that the video was an attempt to ignite sectarian strife. The Syrian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that the voice in the video was not Sheikh Kiwan’s and that it was working to determine who altered the video and would mete out ‘strict punishment’.

“Ahmad Al Zuaiter, a prominent resident of Jaramana, said militants from nearby areas of Ghouta fired mortar rounds into the district overnight and tried to enter through a checkpoint known as Al Nassem that is manned by Druze members of the newly established police.

“The dead included six Druze, mostly members of the police force, while the rest were attackers, Mr Al Zuaiter said.

“Sheikh Hikmat Al Hijri, the spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze, said the attack was carried out by ‘takfiri, terrorist gangs’, meaning militants who justify the killings of members of other sects because they are non-Muslims.”

The fake video, and the historic Islamic animosity towards the Druze and other non-Muslims, appear to be the driving motives of the ongoing violence against religious minorities in Syria. There are no reliable figures for the exact number of casualties, but sources on the ground said hundreds of Druze are estimated to have been executed by Islamists.

A Syrian Christian, on condition of anonymity, told Gatestone:

“The city of Suwayda is where the largest number of Druze reside.

“In the city of Jaramana, the Druze live in large numbers. Sahnaya and Ashrafiyet Sahnaya are small cities, where the Druze live and HTS terrorists attacked those cities recently. The Druze lost control of those two cities to the HTS. They are being subject to massacres and ethnic cleansing right now.

“Suwayda is under attack. The Druze issued general mobilization there and are in self-defense. The Druze outside the city of Suwayda are essentially besieged.

“There is a major media blackout in those towns right now, and the Druze at the moment are mainly focused on defense.”

According to the Israeli news website Ynet:

“Jaramana, a mixed Druze-Christian city near Damascus, is in a vulnerable position. Unlike the Druze stronghold of Suwayda in southern Syria—where the community is more independent and armed—the Druze of Jaramana lack the ability to defend themselves. Israel has closely monitored the situation, concerned that Syria’s new leadership could test the Druze population’s standing, making it a red line for Jerusalem.”

Meanwhile, radical Sunni Muslims have taken to the streets in Syria, calling for jihadist violence against the Druze and other religious minorities. Sunnis in the city of Homs marched against the Druze and Jews, declaring jihad against both communities. They shouted slogans such as:

“Khaybar Khaybar, O Jew – the army of Mohammed has returned (in reference to Islam’s prophet Mohammed’s massacre against Jews in Khaybar, Arabia in 629.)

“Listen, listen O Druze!”

“Listen, O enemy of Islam: war and fire – no peace!”

“At your service, O messenger of Allah!”

In another video, protestors in the city of Hama are heard screaming:

“This is Sunni Hama! We want to exterminate the Druze! In the path of Allah, we march! We seek to raise the banner high! So that the religion may regain its glory or our blood will be spilled.”

Sunni jihadists also took to Hama’s central al-Assi square and chanted slogans, including:

“Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return”

“There is no God but Allah, & the Druze are the enemies of Allah, & the kafir (infidel) is the enemy of Allah”

“Allahu akbar!”

Sunni students at Homs University have been filmed shouting slogans inciting violence against the Druze: “For the attention of [HTS] General Security: Any Druze we see in the dorms, we’re slaughtering! Inform those who are absent!”

The students also announced that they will “pour fire and bullets” on anyone who defends the Druze or “defends Sultan al-Atrash” (leader of the 1925 Great Syrian Revolt). Incitement by Sunni students against minorities at other Syrian universities has also led to Druze students being evacuated.

On April 30, in Damascus, mosques in Eastern Ghouta were heard calling for mass Sunni mobilization:

“To all young men carrying weapons: proceed and gather at the municipal building. General mobilization! All armed young men must head to the municipal building immediately.”

Sunnis in Inkhil, Daraa, were filmed running buses for those who want to go after the Druze. HTS supporters in Idlib waved ISIS flags and incited against the Druze and Jews.

Endless footage from Syria signals that HTS and its supporters have a genocidal intent towards all religious minorities in the region.

In another video, sword-wielding HTS terrorists threaten to wage jihad against the Druze. One of them is heard saying, in part:

“We say to you, O enemy of Allah, O accursed Druze, you have nothing from us, but the severing sword…. Allahu akbar!”

On May 2 and 3, Israel reportedly launched its heaviest airstrikes so far this year on Syria. It included bombing a building near the presidential palace in Damascus. The Israel Defense Forces Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said “warplanes attacked… the area near Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa’s palace in Damascus.”

In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz called it a “clear message” to Syria’s new rulers.

“We will not allow forces to be sent south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” they said. The Israel’s military later added that its forces deployed in southern Syria were ready to protect the Druze minority.

Hours later, Israel carried out more than 20 strikes on military targets across Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian reports also indicate that the Israeli military facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Druze village of Khadr in Syria’s Quneitra province. The aid, organized by Israel’s Druze religious council, was designated for villages near the Israeli border, with additional shipments planned for other areas.

At the same time, threats against Syrian Christians keep escalating. In the “Valley of the Christians,” armed jihadists and Sunni students from Hwash University, chanting jihadist slogans and holding public prayers in a show of force, stormed the Christian village of al-Mzayneh.

Nikolas Farantouris, a Member of European Parliament from Greece, visited Syria on March 8-9, and spoke with the representatives of the Syrian Christian community, including Syria’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X. In a letter Farantouris submitted to the president of the European Parliament, he wrote, “Reliable data indicate 7,000 massacres of Christians and Alawites and unprecedented atrocities against civilians.”

Patriarch John X said during a sermon on March 9:

“The bloody events taking place on the Syrian coast left many dead and wounded…. In many cities, towns, and villages, their houses were burnt, and their properties have been stolen. The targeted areas were the places of Alawites and Christians. Many innocent Christian victims were also killed. Residents of some of those places were forced to leave their homes. Then they were shot and killed. Then their houses, property, and cars were stolen.”

The mass killings of hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority in the western coastal region last month and the ongoing massacres against the Druze community have also heightened fears among other minority communities — including the Christians, Yazidis and Kurds — and sparked calls for international protection.

The fate of these communities should not be left to al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in Syria. Moreover, Syria should not be left to the savagery of al-Sharaa and his HTS offshoots of ISIS and al-Qaeda, or to Turkey’s terrorist mastermind, Erdogan.

For years, Erdogan has repeatedly vowed to “liberate Jerusalem,” as he seems to be attempting to rebuild the Ottoman Empire and install himself as Sultan. Now, with HTS and his other proxy militias in Syria, Erdogan finally has the unimpeded path he has been waiting for to do it.

Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.