Israel Condemns Syrian Government 'Attacks Against Kurdish Minority' In Aleppo

SOHR's Website

Shelling of Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.

Israel on Thursday condemned the Syrian government over what it described as attacks against the Kurdish community in Aleppo, just days after the two sides agreed to establish a joint mechanism aimed at lowering bilateral tensions.

"Attacks by the Syrian regime's forces against the Kurdish minority in the city of Aleppo -- are grave and dangerous," Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X.

"The international community in general, and the West in particular, owes a debt of honor to the Kurds who fought bravely and successfully against ISIS," he added.

Moreover, he said that systematic and murderous repression of Syria’s various minorities contradicts the promises of a “new Syria.” 

"Silence on the part of the international community will lead to an escalation of the violence by the Syrian regime," he noted.

Tensions between Syrian government forces and the internal security forces (Asayish) have been  ongoing since Tuesday, with death reaching 8 civilians and the injury of 57 others.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), warned on Wednesday, that “there are serious concerns that massacres could be carried out against the Kurdish population in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, similar to those previously inflicted on other groups such as the Alawites and Druze, amid rising violence and clashes in these districts.”

He said that “the attacks are aimed at Aleppo’s Kurdish population rather than the Syrian Democratic Forces, with indiscriminate shelling affecting civilians, residential buildings, and neighbourhoods.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that approximately 30,000 people have been displaced, with more than 2,000 families relocating to Afrin district and around 1,100 people sheltering in nine collective centres inside Aleppo.

The Secretary-General is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries after hostilities re-escalated earlier this week in the city’s northeastern neighbourhoods, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Wednesday.

“The United Nations reiterates that all parties have a clear obligation, under international humanitarian law, to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said, urging all actors to “immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint, and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians.”

The SDF, which are the de facto military authority in northeast Syria (Rojava), have for years been the main partner of the U.S.-led Global Coalition against ISIS. The SDF played a decisive role in the territorial defeat of the extremist terrorist group in Syria in 2019.

In addition to frontline operations, the Kurdish-led forces are responsible for securing the two main camps in Rojava that hold ISIS militants and their families — al-Hol and Roj. The SDF has also conducted sustained security operations aimed at dismantling ISIS sleeper cells, whose members have operated largely as lone actors.

During Syria's 14-year civil war, Kurdish authorities began running a semi-autonomous zone in northeast Syria, as well as in parts of Aleppo city.

They have been reluctant to give up those zones and integrate fully into the Islamist-led government that took over after ex-President Bashar al-Assad's ousting in late 2024.

Last year, the Damascus government reached a deal with the SDF that envisaged a full integration by the end of 2025, but the two sides have made little progress, each accusing the other of stalling or acting in bad faith.

The U.S. has stepped in as a mediator, holding meetings as recently as Sunday to try to nudge the process forward. Sunday's meetings ended with no tangible progress.

Failure to integrate the SDF into Syria's army risks further violence and could potentially draw in Türkiye, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.



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