Salim Hamdani, one of the few Jews still living in Syria, was recently arrested by the regime of President Ahmad al‑Shar’a, according to a Kan News report on Tuesday morning.

Hamdani owns a shop in the Old City of Damascus, and according to Syrian sources familiar with the details, the official reason for the arrest is “illegal antiquities trading.”

These sources hastened to clarify that Hamdani “was not arrested because of his religion, but because he broke the law.”

Behind-the-scenes efforts are being made to secure his release.

Kan journalist Roi Kais noted that “this is an unusual incident against the backdrop of the new Syrian regime’s attempt to present a tolerant attitude toward the Jewish community and even to invite delegations of Syrian Jews, mainly from the United States, to visit their homeland.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)