Ben-Gvir sows sectarian division in Syria with Druze-only training programme after Netanyahu visits occupied Syria

Israel’s extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been accused of inflaming sectarian tensions in Syria, with a new programme to train firefighters solely from the country's Druze-majority Suweida province, which remains largely outside Damascus's control.

It comes after a provocative visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to areas of Syria occupied by Israel after the December 2024 fall of the Assad regime, which was strongly condemned by the Syrian government.

Israel has made regular incursions inside Syria since the Assad regime fell, occupying territory beyond the Golan Heights, which it captured in 1967.

Even more provocatively it has intervened in a conflict between the Syrian forces and Druze militias, claiming to be a “protector” of the Syrian Druze community and launching airstrikes on military and government targets, including in Damascus.

Ben-Gvir’s has been greeted with widespread suspicion, because he is one of the most far-right ministers in the Israeli government, with a history of violent incitement against Palestinians and other Arabs.

He has also called for the assassination of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and recently pushed for the execution of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The Israeli news website Ynet reported on Thursday that around 20 young people from Suweida, all members of the Druze community, will undergo an intensive firefighting course in Israel which is the first of its kind to be offered.

They will be given professional equipment and a new Israeli “Saar” fire truck before returning to Suweida in order to establish a fire station there. Israel has previously said that it will invest in Druze communities in Syria, while announcing its intention to split the country on ethnic and sectarian lines.

Ben-Gvir, whose ministry oversees the firefighting and rescue systems told Ynet that “the fire station in Syria will provide emergency response and save lives".

 "We will continue to strengthen our connection with the Druze," he added.

Suweida is under the control of local Druze militias and religious leaders, some of whom have announced their intention to secede from Syria, while expressing sympathy for Israel.

Many Syrian Druze however have rejected this, stressing Syrian unity while opposing any help from Israel.

In July last year sectarian violence broke out between Druze and mostly Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suweida. Syrian government forces and affiliated militias intervened but were accused of committing atrocities against Druze, including summary executions and incidents of sectarian humiliation.

Hundreds of people were killed in the violence, while the the Syrian government recently announced that it had arrested some members of the security forces for crimes committed in Suweida.

On Wednesday, after Netanyahu’s visit to southern Syria, several members of the UN Security Council called for Israel to end its incursions into Syria, while Syria’s UN Ambassador Ibrahim Al-Olabi said that "Israel continues to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs and undermine civil peace".

Olabi said that his country "poses no threat to any state in the region", stressing Syria’s "inalienable right to assert its sovereignty over all its territory".

He also condemned “the tour conducted by the Israeli occupation government’s prime minister in southern Syria.”

Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, also condemned Netanyahu’s visit.