Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

9 Druze Arrested in Ambulance Attack on Syrian

Nine more Druze Israelis were arrested in connection with an attack on an ambulance carrying wounded Syrians to Israeli hospitals, leaving one Syrian dead.

The arrests reported on Tuesday by the Hebrew-language news website Walla bring the total number of arrests in two attacks on ambulances last month to 21.

A gag order has been imposed by police on the investigation into the incidents.

A mob of Druze-Israeli protesters near the village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights on June 22 night dragged two wounded Syrian fighters from an ambulance, beating one to death and seriously injuring the second.

Earlier the same day a group of protesters attacked an ambulance driving by the Druze village of Hurfish, where residents blocked the path of the ambulance and threw stones at it.

The Druze attackers believed the injured men were members of Syrian rebel groups, which have been targeting Druze-Syrians living near the border with Israel as part of the country’s four-year civil war.

Israel treats wounded from the civil war in the field and at local hospitals regardless of what side they are fighting for. More than 1,600 wounded Syrians have been treated in Israeli hospitals during the civil war, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.