It wasn’t for nothing that Israel conducted an unprecedented military campaign following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, destroying most of the latter’s heavily military weaponry in a matter of days. Given the scenes from northwestern Syria over the past few days, imagine what might happen if the new ISIS-aligned rulers in Damascus possessed the previous regime’s missiles, aircraft, and chemical warheads.

Reports over the past few days, mostly on social media, indicate a serious ongoing massacre of minorities in the Syrian coastal cities of Latakia and Tarsus, as well as the surrounding region.

Syria is today ruled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist movement with ties to both Al Qaeda and ISIS. HTS has become the Syrian Armed Forces, and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa (often called by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), is the de facto president of Syria. Western nations were quick to hail the fall of the Assad regime and to welcome al-Sharaa and his new regime, but it seems that was a horribly shortsighted decision.

Effectively, the West granted HTS legitimacy, its jihadist character notwithstanding, which no doubt encouraged the Syria’s new Sunni Islamist rulers to get on with the job of purging local infidels.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed European leaders for their engagement with al-Sharaa.

“Europeans flocked to Damascus in recent months to shake his hand, but he and his men were jihadists and have remained so, even if they now wear suits,” Sa’ar said.

Syria is divided sharply down ethnic and religious lines. Most of the nation’s Sunnis were with the various rebel groups, including HTS, and thus view the Assad-supporting Alawites and Christians, the separatist Kurds, and the isolationist Druze as traitors, as well as idolators. HTS, like other jihadist movements, aims to establish a caliphate under Sharia Law, and that means either eliminating or subjugating all non-Muslims (including “apostate” Shiites).

Dozens of video clips shared on social media over the weekend graphically depicted the beginnings of that purge.

If we don’t start:
-deislamization &
-remigration

In the next 15 years, we will crawl like dogs in our own cities, like those poor guys in Syria.
Islamization is the great replacement on steroids.
Islam is no part of Europe.pic.twitter.com/MnI0x01UKe

— Martin Sellner (@Martin_Sellner) March 8, 2025

VIDEO: Alawites are made to crawl and bark like dogs before being executed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 745 civilians, 125 government security force members and 148 militants from armed groups affiliated with the Assad regime had been killed.

Sa’ar dismissed al-Sharaa’s assurances of inclusivity as a façade: “This weekend, the masks fell. Al-Jolani’s men mercilessly massacred their own people—the citizens of the so-called ‘New Syria.’”

The Israeli foreign minister urged Europe to take a firm stance: “It must stop lending legitimacy to a regime whose first acts—unsurprisingly, given its terrorist past—are these atrocities.”

Plea for Israeli protection

Israel’s Walla News reported that Alawite leaders in Syria had sent an urgent letter to the Israeli government: “Save us from the cruel regime, we will receive you with songs and flowers.” 

The letter also appealed to the Israeli media: “Shed light on the massacres!”

The Alawites and Christians are hoping that Israel might extend the same protection to them that it has to the Druze of southern Syria.

Late last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the new Syrian regime not to send its forces south of Damascus, and in particular to stop threatening the Druze suburb of Jaramana.

“We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze. We have instructed the IDF to prepare and deliver a harsh and clear warning: If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us,” the Israeli leaders said in a joint statement.

“We are committed to our Druze brothers in Israel to do everything to prevent harm to their Druze brothers in Syria, and we will take all necessary measures to ensure their safety,” the statement continued.

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