As Christians and Alawites proceed to endure in Syria, an Israeli Christian with ties to Syria’s Christian group lately spoke to All Israel Information, exposing the worsening state of affairs underneath the newly established Islamist authorities. 

Manuel Abu Ali, the founding father of Center East Christian Support (MECA), a nonprofit devoted to supporting Christian communities within the Center East, described the disaster. An Evangelical Christian from Jerusalem, Abu Ali in contrast the plight of Syria’s Christians to what Israeli civilians skilled in the course of the Hamas assault on October 7, 2023. 

“It is a actuality they face each single day. Besides, there are not any heroic troopers coming to defend them. They’re on their very own,” Abu Ali stated. 

A MECA workforce was delivering assist to Christians in Homs, a metropolis positioned simply east of the coastal areas of Latakia and Tartus, when violence erupted. Preventing between militants loyal to the ousted Assad regime and the Islamist authorities rapidly escalated into brutal persecution and mass killings of civilians. 

“The workforce discovered themselves hiding beneath furnishings to keep away from being shot or kidnapped by militias roaming the streets exterior. They discovered themselves caught up within the deadliest interval of violence in years – with over 1,000 civilians killed,” Abu Ali defined. 

Homs has change into a battleground between Alawite militias supporting Assad and the Islamist forces of the brand new regime. Nonetheless, civilians, together with Christians, are being focused by each side. 

“A surge in violence and kidnappings erupted, and houses and outlets had been attacked in Homs and surrounding villages. Killing everybody of their means, together with Christians. Our companions are saying Alawite militias loyal to Assad began this violence,” Abu Ali informed AIN. 

Reviews from Syria’s coastal areas counsel that Christians had been among the many greater than 1,000 killed within the current combating. Though the brand new authorities has promised stability, Abu Ali warns that its forces are made up of fighters with backgrounds in al-Qaeda and ISIS. 

“Their true colours got here out, with some profiting from the state of affairs to scrub the realm of anybody that is not Sunni,” he stated. 

In response to New Traces Journal, Homs has been gripped by a wave of kidnappings and murders focusing on minorities, significantly Alawites, because the new regime took energy. The town’s new police chief denied that there was a rise in violence, however Syriac Catholic Archbishop Jacques Mourad painted a distinct image. 

“We tried to speak with the officers, who’ve the social and political duty, however we’ve obtained no concrete response,” Mourad stated. 

“There’s a repeat to all of the issues the Assad regime did earlier than, we can not settle for this,” he added. 

The Christian state of affairs worsened dramatically in December 2024. After years of impasse, the Islamist insurgent group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive from its northern stronghold in Idlib, bringing down the Assad regime in a swift assault. 

The brand new authorities, led by HTS chief Ahmed al-Sharaa—who has previous ties to ISIS and al-Qaeda—is struggling to impose order. Al-Sharaa is making an attempt to unite varied armed teams, together with international Islamist factions, right into a nationwide military. 

Syria’s ethnic and spiritual minorities are seen with suspicion by former rebels, lots of whom imagine they supported Assad’s brutal regime. Concern is widespread amongst these communities. 

Regardless of the uncertainty, some Christian church buildings have publicly supported the brand new authorities, hoping it is going to uphold its guarantees of safety. Nonetheless, stories from the bottom point out that Syria’s Christians stay in grave hazard.