The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East issued a statement on March 28, 2026, condemning the attacks on Christians in Syria and demanding an investigation and full accountability. Photo courtesy of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.
On the evening of March 27, 2026, armed groups attacked the predominantly Christian town of Al-Suqaylabiyah in Hama province, Syria, destroying homes, shops, cars, and churches.
The violence continued into the early hours of March 28 and fell on the eve of Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week.
The incident was triggered when two Muslim men from Qalaat al-Madiq, a nearby Sunni town, entered Al-Mashwar Street in Al-Suqaylabiyah and harassed several young Christian women.
Local youths intervened, at which point one of the attackers threatened them with a grenade. The men fled, then returned accompanied by Syrian security forces, who proceeded to identify and arrest several young Christian men from the community while taking no action against the instigators.
Scores of men on motorcycles from Qalaat al-Madiq then attacked Christian property. The Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Al-Suqaylabiyah came under fire during the assault.
Rights Monitor Syria documented that the attackers were armed groups linked to the interim authority, the transitional government that has ruled Syria since December 2024 under Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
Al-Sharaa built his power base through Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, itself an outgrowth of Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.
Many of the fighters who form the backbone of his movement and now populate the Syrian Arab Army came through networks associated with al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, and in some cases ISIS, before nominally renouncing those affiliations as a condition of international engagement.
The United States designated HTS a foreign terrorist organization, a designation the Trump administration revoked in July 2025 following a meeting between President Trump and al-Sharaa, though HTS retains a separate designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
Al-Sharaa has sought to rebrand both himself and his forces as pragmatic nationalists, but the personnel, the ideology, and the command relationships have not fundamentally changed.
A video circulated showing members of the Syrian Arab Army making derogatory remarks against Christians and inciting violence. Security forces were accused of complicity or negligence in areas where they failed to intervene.
The Levantine National Council, a Syrian Christian political organization founded in Damascus in 2025, stated that the attack was carried out under what it described as “influential protection,” an implicit reference to parties with security or political influence, without naming them directly.
The Syrian Arab Army is the official military of Syria, the rebranded successor to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist militia that overthrew Assad in December 2024.
The rebranding was a political move to present the force as a conventional national military, but the personnel and command structure carried over from HTS.
The name itself is ideologically significant. By defining the national military in Arab-nationalist terms, it structurally excludes Syria’s non-Arab communities, Assyrian Christians, and Armenian Christians, as well as its non-Sunni communities, including all other Christians, Kurds, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis.
Under Assad, the military was deliberately multi-sectarian at the officer corps level as a tool of regime stability. The al-Sharaa government, however, has reversed those policies, making the situation for Christians and other minorities much more dangerous.
The European Syriac Union stated that the Syrian government, in cooperation with affiliated armed groups and tribal militias, is carrying out systematic attacks against civilians from various religious and ethnic backgrounds and called on the United States, the European Union, France, and Germany to urgently reconsider their support for the Syrian government.
The Universal Syriac Union Party described the attacks as bearing the hallmarks of an ISIS-like exclusionary ideology.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East condemned the events, stating they could not be dismissed as isolated, and called for an official investigation, accountability, compensation for those affected, and guarantees against repetition. In Damascus, members of the Orthodox community gathered outside the Antiochian Patriarchate building to demand protection.
Government forces eventually brought reinforcements to Suqaylabiyah and restored order. Hundreds of residents marched through the streets on Saturday demanding accountability and declaring a general strike until the perpetrators are punished. Demonstrations condemning the attack were held in Damascus, As-Suwayda, and the Christian town of Kafrou in rural Hama.
The attack fits a pattern that has intensified since Assad’s fall. Hundreds were killed in the Alawite coastal regions in March 2025 and in the Druze province of Sweida in July.
Christians made up about 10% of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million and enjoyed freedom of worship under the Assad government, but Syria’s Christian population has since fallen from over two million to roughly 300,000.
The al-Sharaa government has consistently condemned attacks on minorities, while critics accuse it of lacking the capacity or will to control its affiliated armed groups.
During Syria’s civil war, Suqaylabiyah was held by Assad loyalists, while Qalaat al-Madiq was held by insurgent groups that now govern the country.
That sectarian geography continues to shape the violence, as the Islamist ideologies of HTS, al-Nusra, and the armed factions operating under the al-Sharaa government call for the elimination of Christians, non-Muslims, and Muslims who reject their brand of Islam.
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