European countries condemned the violence affecting Druze Syrians last week, but also expressed varying degrees of displeasure at Israeli actions designed to stop the bloodshed.
Of the Western European powers, the United Kingdom had the most critical stance about Israel, whose air force on July 16 struck the Syrian Army’s General Staff headquarters in Damascus, among other targets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a move designed to enforce the demilitarization of southern Syria and defend Druze Syrians from massacres. On July 13, images and testimonies from a major massacre in the Druze city of Sweida in the Syrian province of the same name began appearing.
The U.K. expressed “deep concern” over the violence there but added it was also “deeply concerned by Israel’s escalatory strikes in Damascus,” as Barbara Woodward, the British ambassador to the U.N., told the Security Council on Thursday. “We repeat our call for Israel to refrain from actions that risk destabilizing Syria and the wider region,” she added.
In contrast, France’s foreign ministry did not mention Israel in its statement about Sweida, and did not reply to that part of a query by JNS requesting comment on Israel.
“France expresses its deep concern at the serious developments under way in the Sweida region,” the spokesperson said.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in a statement on Thursday did acknowledge the Israeli strikes and spoke about them in the context of the need to prevent Syria from becoming “a theater for regional tensions,” but, unlike the E.U., he stopped short of calling on Israel to respect Syria’s sovereignty.
“I call on all national and foreign actors not to take any action that could jeopardize Syria’s stability or the transition process,” Wadephul said.
Syria’s ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said his government was “transitional,” and would be replaced by a permanent one following stabilization.
The massacres in Sweida are widely believed to have been perpetrated by Sunni Islamist gunmen affiliated with the regime of al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda terrorist who took power in December. Hundreds of Syrian Druze have been killed in the worst massacres perpetrated against the minority group in about a century.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also did not mention Israel, either, in speaking about the violence in Syria.
A spokesperson for the E.U. mission to Israel told JNS: “In light of Israel’s escalating strikes on Syrian territory, we urge all external actors to fully respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The E.U. spokesperson acknowledged the events in Sweida, labeling them “clashes” and “strongly condemning the reported violence against civilians.”
Al-Sharaa’s regime has “the responsibility to de-escalate and restore calm” and lead “an inclusive transition,” and “the E.U. stands ready to assist” with that, he added.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp also called the news from Sweida “worrying,” adding, “We call on all parties, including Israel, to exercise maximum restraint and that Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity is respected.”
Spain used similar wording on Israel but added that in Syria, violent acts “cannot go unpunished and accountability and justice for the victims must be ensured.”
Russia condemned the Israeli strikes outright. “These attacks, which constitute a gross violation of the country’s sovereignty and international law, deserve strong condemnation,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement read.
