On Monday night, an Israeli flag was hoisted in southern Syria. That's unusual, to say the least. Even though there was an uneasy, decades-long detente behind the scenes between the Assad regime, Syria's former dictatorial government, and the Israeli government, the two nations mostly consider one another hostile.

Shortly after the Israeli flag was raised at a roundabout in the southern province of Sweida, home to much of Syria's Druze minority, other locals took it down and burned it.

The flag raising-and-burning took place after another worrying incident over the weekend: A gunfight in Jaramana, a Druze-majority suburb of Damascus, between locals and the new Syrian security forces. But reports were confusing: Was the Druze community under attack from the new government or was this a non-political scrap?

"There were all kinds of rumors," a local from Jaramana, who wanted to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the situation, told DW. "Some people say that the Druze men who were fighting the security forces, had a connection with Druze in Israel and were secretly funded by them to cause problems here."

The Druze community is a small Middle Eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines. An estimated 150,000 Druze in Israel hold Israeli citizenship, regularly serve in the army and are considered fiercely loyal to the state of Israel. In Syria, around 700,000 Druze make up one of Syria's largest minority communities and have pressed the new Syrian government to uphold minority rights.

"Others, including many from civil society organizations, blamed [Druze] religious authorities because they are playing this card [with Israel] so they can have more power within the new government," the source continued.

On Sunday, responding to the gunfight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his army was prepared to defend Syria's Druze minority from any danger posed........

© Deutsche Welle