The Syrian capital is being hit and state TV says Israel is responsible. [00:00:19] Damascus, the capital of Syria, has been hit by a series of Israeli airstrikes because if Israel isn't bombing their neighbors, what else would they be up to now? Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, shared video of his country's attack and [00:00:35] accompanied that video with a statement saying that the painful blows have begun. Okay, now Israel, of course, has taken responsibility for bombing the headquarters of the Syrian Armed Forces in Damascus. [00:00:51] And there have been additional Israeli strikes in other parts of the country, other Israeli strikes in Damascus as well. Specifically, they've targeted the defense ministry in Syria and the presidential palace and in other parts of Syria, including the southern city of. [00:01:14] Daraa. I can't say it. I'm sorry, but basically the southern region of Syria, where they have a majority Druze community. And so you're going to want to know that because it's basically, in my opinion, the cover story for what's going on in Syria right now. [00:01:32] But there's this claim that Israel is just trying to protect the Druze community in Syria. They're very concerned about them. Okay. They're also claiming that their latest military campaign is about protecting them. Tel Aviv is demanding the demilitarization of Syria, a sovereign country, [00:01:50] especially under its new leadership. And there's going to be more on that in just a minute. But before I share more details, why don't we watch this? The flash point of Swadia, which is a stronghold for this Druze community. They are a minority group, but they are a majority in this city. [00:02:07] And that is where these clashes broke out over the weekend between Bedouin tribes and these, this Druze community. With that outbreak of violence over the weekend, dozens of people were killed. That's what prompted the Syrian government to send forces to southern Syria, it says. [00:02:25] The Syrian government says in an attempt to quell the unrest, to calm what you're hearing and you're seeing there on your screen. But Israel's response, Israel's intervention in what is a domestic affair has, of course, poured fuel on this fire, [00:02:42] and it makes it ever more difficult for government forces to reestablish control in an area. When Israeli forces say they have no right to be there. Israel has declared a unilateral demilitarized zone in this part of Syria, something the Syrian government says it does not agree to. [00:03:00] It is calling on Israel to stop. It is accusing Israel of violating its sovereignty. So there you have it. That's the town I'm referring to, Sweida, which is where they have a large Druze community in southern Syria and the Syrian Druze community, [00:03:20] as you got a little sense of from that video, does not recognize the new Syrian regime. Now, remember Bashar al Assad. His regime was toppled. The person in charge who has taken power is a former al Qaeda guy. Not a good look, but nonetheless, Ahmed Al Qara, [00:03:39] also known as Abu Mohammad Al-julani. The Druze community is concerned about him because under Bashar al Assad, while he was a brutal dictator, there's no question about it. It was more a secular Society. [00:03:54] But now there's concern that there's going to be, you know, Islamic extremism in Syria that will not respect various religious minorities or ethnic minorities in Syria. And you should know that Syria is far more diverse than most Americans realize. [00:04:10] And so the Druze community, that does not want to see the military in their town under the leadership of Syria's new leader, is understandable to some extent. But unfortunately, this is what happens when you have regime change wars, [00:04:28] when you have a proxy war take place in Syria to topple a regime. Well, what comes next? People who tend to love war neoconservatives especially, seem to, like, push this idea that when you topple a regime, all these wonderful things will happen. [00:04:43] Flowers. Flowers will bloom, democracy will bloom. But that's not what typically happens, as we've learned in Libya, as we're learning now in Syria. But unfortunately for the Druze, the person in charge right now is, you know, al-shara. [00:05:00] And they don't want the military in their town. The Bedouins are upset about that. So the two groups have kind of been attacking one another in Sweida. Now, Israel has used those hostilities as an excuse to bomb the hell [00:05:18] out of Syria, not just Sweida, but as I've mentioned in the beginning of the story, Damascus, the capital as well, and they're specifically going after government buildings. You know, military, infrastructure, things like that. So again, the Defense Ministry, the presidential palace was bombed. [00:05:36] And you also have the headquarters of the Syrian Armed Forces in Damascus getting bombed by the Israelis as well. Now, with that in mind, Israel also has a community of Israeli Druze. Okay. We've talked about them on the show before, and some of them are concerned [00:05:51] about how the Druze in Syria, you know, their brothers and sisters, as they refer to them, are being treated. And they're so concerned about it that they're trying to take matters into their own hands. And in this next video, you'll see what I'm talking about. [00:06:06] We are watching here on the Israeli side of the border is really quite stunning, Becky, and that is that we are seeing, Druze, individuals in Israel, either Israeli Druze or Syrian Druze, who live in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, attempting to cross into Syria [00:06:26] to try and help their fellow Druze brothers in Syria who have been under attack in the city of Suwayda. And we are seeing hundreds of these Druze individuals crossing the Israeli border fence into the Israeli controlled buffer zone inside of Syria, [00:06:46] trying to make their way, to presumably that city of Suwayda. So Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed this matter and requested that the Israeli Druze stop attempting to cross the border into Syria to essentially engage [00:07:04] in these scuffles and these hostilities. He says that the IDF has it covered through their bombing campaign, and footage proves that because the IDF is bombing Suwayda along with other government targets in Syria. But it's also important to understand that not everyone in the Druze community [00:07:24] wants Israel to be involved in this, and I suspect that they they feel that protecting the Druze is not really what's motivating the Israeli government. And I'm going to give you more evidence of that in just a minute. But first, take a look at this. [00:07:41] Well, the Israeli foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, kind of laid it out this morning saying that there are two primary reasons for Israel intervening in Syria. The first of which, he said, is that Israel is trying to protect itself. That it does not want to allow certain armed elements along its border [00:08:01] in that southern part of Syria. So there is a national security interest, they say. The second element, though, which seems to be the most salient one at this moment, is that they say that they have an interest in protecting the minority Druze community in Syria, citing strong bonds that Israel has with the Druze community. [00:08:21] And what's important to also understand is that the Druze community is not a monolith. First of all, the Druze are a religion. They live in Syria, they live in Israel, they live in Lebanon as well. And there are very much differences not only between the Syrian Druze [00:08:38] and the Israeli Druze, the Lebanese Druze, but also within the Syrian Druze community itself. And by the way, I should note that the former al Qaeda new leader of Syria has made overtures toward Israel in an [00:08:56] effort to create some sort of allyship to maybe even do business with one another, to be friendly with one another. Right. So you have the new leadership of Syria wanting to play ball with Israel. And honestly, the the new regime in Syria doesn't really have the power, [00:09:13] to push back on or go to war with Israel. But it didn't really help in regard to convincing Israel that maybe you should stop trying to take over more or occupy more land in Syria, or engage in these airstrikes, which they're currently engaging in. [00:09:33] Now there's, the Israeli cover story, and I'm going to call it that. Right. And then, you know, I just don't buy their concern for Druze. I don't. And even if they are okay, well, who are [00:09:48] you to invade or bomb a sovereign country under this premise that you're trying to protect any group of people? I mean, you have a brand new regime. Israel has wanted regime change in Syria. Congratulations. You got what you want. [00:10:05] So, why not allow the new regime to govern, to find a way to, you know, unite the Syrian people regardless of what their background is, what their religion is, what their ethnicity is? Now, I don't have a lot of faith in, al Al-shara. [00:10:22] Ever since he's taken power, there have been attacks on on Druze. There have also been attacks on Christians living in Syria. It's been a nightmare, which often is the case when you have a regime change without a real plan in place, to, you know, essentially do something [00:10:37] after a regime is toppled. But this conflict. I don't want anyone to think. Just started today or earlier this week. No no no no no okay. This dates back all the way to the 1967 war between Israel and Syria, and the [00:10:53] agreement both countries signed in 1974, in which Israel would keep its part of the Golan Heights, and there would be a buffer zone between Syria and Israel. But Israel has taken advantage of the fall of Bashar al Assad, [00:11:08] which is why I think they were part of that proxy war to topple Bashar al Assad. Take a look. Ever since the fall of the Assad government, the Israelis have seen the opportunity not just to destroy all of Syria's military capabilities, whether it was the Navy or the army, heavy, heavy weaponry and air defense [00:11:27] systems, everything that you could imagine would possibly pose a threat to Israel. It has eliminated. And then on top of that, Israel's Israeli soldiers have come deeper into Syrian territory, I'll tell you. Last week we were actually in Nitra in western Syria, in southwestern Syria, [00:11:43] and we were talking to people there. There was one person, a local, who was with us in the car trying to point out where the Israeli soldiers were. We saw tanks in February there. Now those tanks have been replaced by drones, and there was a drone that came all the way to the windshield of our car. [00:12:01] And that person hid their face because he said that all of that area, there's facial recognition software that Israelis are using on Syrian territory. And there was a raid on some people by Israeli soldiers because there were people from outside of Quneitra who came to visit them. [00:12:21] Yeah. Fascinating. I think the AI technology being deployed, the use of drones, Israeli drones in Syria, it's the type of context that you're not going to get in American reporting. I'm just keeping it real. I had to do a lot of digging to kind of figure out what was really going on here. [00:12:39] But I want to go to video five because, Israeli ministers aren't calling for the protection of the minority Druze community. They're calling for something else in Syria right now, which blows my mind. Take a look. [00:12:54] Now, we're also hearing from an Israeli minister. This is from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own party, who is calling for Syria's new president, Ahmed Al-shara, to be, quote, eliminated. So I'm wondering, what are Israel's goals here? [00:13:12] Why did Israel attack this region? Well, Israel has been attacking this region, and especially all of the western parts of Syria, occupying more territory, putting its soldiers on the ground, harassing citizens, carrying out raids, abducting Syrian citizens, [00:13:29] not giving any justifications or clarifications of why it's doing it. In the last week, we've heard from the Israeli army raiding what it called an Iranian cell. And when we went to that area, a child was among the people who was abducted. [00:13:47] They abducted a child. Was the child the Iranian cell that they were worried. Come on, guys, come on, come on, come on. I mean, it's infuriating. It really is infuriating when you have a country run by a government that [00:14:04] makes Israelis out to be perpetual victims when they can't stop bombing their neighbors and occupying land. And, I mean, you have a minister in the Likud party calling for regime change in Syria. [00:14:20] Again, again, again. How much more do we need to destabilize the Middle East? It's absurd. Geez. Okay. But there are a few more points worth mentioning because there's a water basin called the Yarmouk River that actually provides a shared water [00:14:38] supply between Syria and Jordan, and it appears that Israel has some interest in occupying that water supply. Now, why would they want that? Well, the Israeli control over the Yarmouk River and Unity Dam is a strategic move [00:14:53] aimed at enhancing its influence in the region, especially after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. This control grants Israel the ability to regulate one of the most important water sources in Syria, allowing it to directly impact [00:15:08] water resources in both Syria and Jordan. I mean, look, this kind of sounds a little far fetched, doesn't it? I mean, when has Israel ever controlled the water supply of. Oh, oh, wait, they do that all the time as it pertains to Palestinians, whether we're [00:15:26] talking about Gaza, whether we're talking about an occupation in the West Bank. These are the kinds of tactics that you'll see from the Israeli government and the IDF. Israeli control included the towns of Al-baath, Khan, Arnab and Katana, in addition to the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, providing Israel with [00:15:46] a strategic position overlooking Damascus. And I should note that Israel probably wants access to this incredibly important resource as well, because they have water insecurity issues as well. So final thing that I'll mention, because you should never [00:16:04] just believe a cover story, okay? You should never just believe what a government is telling you about what's motivating their bombing campaign. You need to dig deeper. And the Times of Israel reported today Netanyahu's corruption trial adjourned [00:16:20] amid strikes on Syria. Anyone surprised by that? Because I'm not. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.