Syria | Simmering conflicts

The good news: The troops deployed by the transitional government in Damascus are withdrawing from the predominantly Druze region of Al-Suweida. Public security will now be in the hands of the Druze community . This should prevent further bloodshed. To date, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has counted nearly 380 people killed, including approximately 200 government soldiers, 28 civilians from the city of Al-Suweida, and 41 people executed by government troops .

The bad news: The situation remains explosive and defies simplistic explanations. Mistrust among the various groups in Syria is high and can quickly escalate into violence: One shared post on social media with false information is enough.

Israel's military intervention in internal Syrian conflicts further complicates matters and bodes ill for the future: As the self-proclaimed protector of the Druze, the Netanyahu government is keeping tensions between the ethnic and religious groups in Syria simmering. Even if the Druze haven't called anyone for help, many now consider them friends of Israel.

Who is actually condemning the Israeli government for the blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty ? Syria expert Charles Lister has calculated that Israel carried out 987 air and artillery strikes and 421 ground attacks against Syria in seven months. Self-defense? According to Lister, during the same period, the number of Syrian attacks on Israel totaled exactly 0.