The rebellion was led by Druze clans of Mount Lebanon, with an aim to expel the Egyptian forces, under Ibrahim Pasha considering them as infidels.

[1] Ibrahim recruited loyal Albanians and recalled reinforcements from Hama, Acre and Aleppo, creating an army which according to British officials counted some 15,000 men.

The Druze refused to lay down their weapons, but concerned with the size of the amounting armies, tried to enlist additional forces to support the revolt from across Syria and Lebanon.

At this point, Ibrahim Pasha ordered Emir Bashir Shihab II, his ally, to send 1,000 men to Wadi al-Taym, where the clashes erupted on April 7.

[1] The Egyptian army was commanded by Ahmad Bek, consisting of an infantry regiment, 300 Bedouins and 500 irregulars,[1] which succeeded to overwhelm the Druzes with 33 dead, scores wounded and four taken prisoner.

[1] Following the defeat by Ahmad Bek, Shibli occupied Rashayya and killed its governor, while Druze volunteers kept flowing in to join his forces.

Joined by two sheikhs from Mount Lebanon—Hasan Junbalat and Nasir ad-Din al-Imad—the Druze fighters were led into Wadi Bakka, where on July 4 they suffered a decisive defeat, losing some 640 men including al-Imad.

Sheikh Hasan al-Bitar of Rashaya and the Christian Jiris Abu ad-Dibs mediated the agreement, whereby Ibrahim Pasha agreed to give amnesty to insurgents and to put the Druze into forced labor in lieu of exemption from conscription, in return for the surrender of Druze arms and those seized from Egyptians.

[1] Small groups of insurgents still refused to lay their weapons, including Shibli in Mount Hermon and sheikh Husain Abu Asaf in Lajat.