‘Israel military action saved us,’ says Druze massacre survivor

A Syrian Druze woman who survived the Sweida massacre says the Israel Defense Forces saved her family and community from complete annihilation.

By World Israel News Staff

A Druze woman who survived a jihadist assault on her community in Syria has publicly praised the Israeli army, crediting the Jewish State with saving her life and the lives of her family members.

The Druze — an ethnic and religious minority concentratd in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel — suffered a horrific Islamically=motivated attack in July 2025 in the southern Syrian city of Sweida.

According to witnesses and reports, jihadist forces stormed the city, committing mass atrocities, including rape and the murder of infants and the elderly.

At least 1,000 Druze civilians are believed to have been killed in the massacre.

Israel intervened militarily to halt the bloodshed, bombing jihadist forces near Sweida and striking both military and government-linked targets in Damascus.

The Jewish State also provided humanitarian aid to survivors.

Speaking on the Israeli Arabic-language radio program Voice of the Druze, a woman identifying herself as Rama Rida said her people would have been “completely destroyed” without the intervention of the IDF.

“If there had been no direct Israeli military intervention, the Druze people in Syria would have been destroyed,” Rida said.

She pushed back against accusations from the Arab world that Druze who express gratitude toward Israel are traitors.

“When they come to murder me, my husband, and my children — when they come to murder and ethnically cleanse my people — what do you expect me to do? Stand by and do nothing? No. I will turn to Israel and ask it to help me,” Rida added.

“I am proud of that, and I am not afraid to say so. No Arab country can take any step without Israeli consent, so now you accuse me of treason because I support Israeli intervention that prevented the destruction of my people?”

Videos circulating on social media prove that the killing of Druze in Syria is ongoing, including footage showing Syrian soldiers murdering a Druze man in a local hospital.

In July, Israeli Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif told Hebrew-language i24 News that the “jihadist majority” is currently “in charge” of Syria.

Tarif added that the attacks on the Druze in Syria are reminiscent of the Holocaust and October 7th.