"Protecting the Druze is our priority" - Ahmed al-Sharaa

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said that protecting Druze citizens and ensuring their rights is “our priority.”

In his first televised address since Wednesday’s Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, Shaaraa said: “We are not among those who fear war. We have lived our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have preferred the interests of Syria over chaos and destruction.”

The head of state said the Druze are an integral part of the Syrian people.

He said that since the fall of the previous regime, Israel has sought to turn Syria’s territory into an arena of conflict and weaken the country’s internal unity.

“Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies and external ambitions. Building a new Syria requires focusing on the country’s interests and not dragging it into chaos,” Shaaraa said.