^{Elders of the Druze community gather during a meeting in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli Golan Heights on July 16, 2025. Photo by Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images.}

Israel’s Health Ministry has publicly confirmed the delivery on Sunday of urgent medical aid to the Druze community in Syria’s Sweida District. 

The operation took place after direct appeals for help amid severe ongoing violence and the reported destruction of the local hospital.

Ministry spokesperson Shira Solomon said in a statement that the Israel Defense Forces and other security forces transferred the medical equipment and medications—including trauma treatment supplies and life-saving medications.

“This action was taken following reports of severe damage to the hospital and in order to provide assistance to the wounded on site,” Solomon said, adding that more shipments of medical aid are planned.

The aid shipment was transferred into Syrian territory after close coordination with American officials. The United States subsequently informed Syrian authorities of the operation, Kan News reported.

This action followed a decision by top Israeli government officials during an emergency meeting on Saturday night.

The medical supplies were sent after the community’s local hospital was destroyed in recent fighting. The urgent need prompted Israeli Health Minister Uriel Buso to convene a special discussion during Shabbat to address the delivery of aid and consider further assistance to the area.

Also on Saturday, Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov met with Dolan Abu Salah, head of the Majdal Shams Council in the Golan, doctors from the area and Professor Salman Zarka, director of Ziv Medical Center in Safed, to examine the transfer of aid, medical equipment and medications to the hospital in Sweida.

The visit also included a meeting with physicians from the Druze community, who described the situation in Sweida.

“In light of the State of Israel’s commitment to our Druze brethren, as demonstrated in the past week amid the events in southern Syria, the Ministry of Health is mobilizing to transfer medical equipment and medications to enable better assistance to the wounded and sick at the site,” Bar Siman Tov said.

“The decision to take on this mission is yet another expression of the values guiding the healthcare system and the longstanding alliance with our Druze brethren,” he continued.

Israel is actively preparing to send additional shipments of humanitarian aid to the region in the coming days as a fragile ceasefire takes hold after a week of intense sectarian clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin gunmen and Syrian government forces.

As of Monday, updated reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimate that 1,120 people have been killed in southern Syria—primarily in Sweida Province.

Among the dead are 427 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians. According to rights monitors, at least 194 Druze civilians were executed without trial by forces affiliated with Syria’s Interior and Defense ministries. Government-aligned troops have also suffered major losses, with around 354 personnel killed in ongoing clashes across the region.

Meanwhile, fighting involving Sunni Bedouin groups has left at least 21 of their gunmen dead, along with three Bedouin civilians reportedly executed by Druze militias. Israeli airstrikes, aimed at halting regime advances and weakening paramilitary positions, also killed at least 15 Syrian soldiers last week.

On Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced an emergency aid package valued at two million shekels ($594,000) specifically for the Druze in Sweida. The package will include food parcels, medical equipment, first aid kits and medicines.

The funds will come from the Foreign Ministry’s budget and will be directed specifically to Druze areas directly affected by recent violent attacks. This latest allocation follows a previous aid package sent by the Foreign Ministry to Druze communities in Syria in March.

Despite repeated calls from the Druze in Israel and Syria, Jordan has so far declined requests to open a humanitarian corridor on its border with Syria to facilitate the delivery of aid. The spiritual leadership of the Druze in Syria has publicly called for direct international protection, claiming that Bedouin groups have violated ceasefire agreements and urging the nations that guaranteed these agreements to ensure their implementation.

The IDF has completed new fortifications along the border with Syria in the Golan Heights, following incidents in which large numbers of Druze civilians crossed the border to join family members in conflict zones.

These rapid upgrades are intended to thwart mass infiltration attempts and bolster security amid ongoing regional turmoil, according to a Channel 12 report on Monday.

Security enhancements include concrete barriers, dense barbed wire, restricted road access and the establishment of several checkpoints. The IDF has also increased the number of troops along the fence, in coordination with the Israel Police.

Overnight gatherings of Druze were again reported near the Israeli-Syrian border, but no new infiltration attempts occurred. Most Israelis who crossed into Syria have returned, and the IDF says no Syrian civilians remain in Israel.

Source: JNS