Syria withdraws army from Sweida after Israel bombs Damascus
. The Syrian government forces have been targeting the minorities, including the Aalwites , the Christians and the Druze
Syria's army began withdrawing from violence-hit Sweida on Wednesday after Israeli strikes on Damascus and US calls for a pullback from the Druze-majority city, state media said. Washington, which seeks to mend ties with Syria, said a deal was reached to restore calm and urged all sides to uphold commitments.
Syria
announced that its army had begun to withdraw from violence-hit Sweida on Wednesday, following a
wave of Israeli strikes
on the capital and a US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city.
The United States, which is close allies with Israel and has been trying to reboot its relationship with Syria, said an agreement had been reached to restore calm in the area, and urged 'all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made'.
The Syrian government earlier announced a new ceasefire in Sweida that would bring a halt to military operations there, after clashes that a war monitor said had left more than 300 people dead since Sunday.
The Syrian army 'has begun withdrawing from the city of Sweida in implementation of the terms of the adopted agreement, after the end of the sweep of the city for outlaw groups', a defence ministry statement said.
The statement did not mention any withdrawal of other government security forces, which had deployed to the city on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a previous truce agreed with Druze community leaders following days of deadly fighting with local Bedouin tribes.
That ceasefire appeared to have little effect, however, with witnesses reporting that the government forces joined with the Bedouin in attacking Druze fighters and civilians in a bloody rampage through the city.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights
war monitor said that the violence in Sweida province had left more than 300 people dead, including government forces, local fighters and 27 Druze civilians killed in 'summary executions'.
The Syrian presidency vowed to investigate the 'heinous acts' in Sweida and to punish 'all those proven to be involved'.
Israel, which has its
own Druze community
, has presented itself as a defender of the group, although some analysts say that is a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces as far from their shared frontier as possible.
Following the fall of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, the Israeli military took control of the UN-monitored demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights and conducted hundreds of strikes on military targets in Syria.
After carrying out air strikes in Sweida province earlier this week in what it said was defence of the Druze, Israel launched a series of attacks on the capital Damascus on Wednesday.
AFP images showed the side of a building in the defence ministry complex in ruins after one strike, as smoke billowed over the area.
Israel said it had also struck a 'military target' in the area of the presidential palace, while a Syrian interior ministry source reported strikes outside the capital in 'the vicinity of the Mazzeh (military) airport'.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called on Damascus to 'leave the Druze in Sweida alone', and threatened to unleash 'painful blows' until government forces pulled back.
Syria's foreign ministry slammed the attacks as a 'dangerous escalation', while Israel's military chief insisted his forces were 'acting with responsibility, restraint and sound judgment'.
The Syrian health ministry said that at least three people were killed and 34 wounded in the strikes on Damascus.
Announcing the new ceasefire on Wednesday, Syria's interior ministry said there would be a 'total and immediate halt to all military operations', as well as the formation of a committee comprising government representatives and Druze spiritual leaders to supervise its implementation.
An AFP correspondent in Sweida, however, reported hearing gunfire in the city even after the announcement.
In a video carried by state television, Sheikh Youssef Jarboua, one of Syria's main Druze spiritual leaders, read out the 10 points of the accord, which also includes 'the full integration of the province' of Sweida into the Syrian state.
Until now, Druze areas have been controlled by fighters from the minority community.
The latest fighting was the most serious outbreak of violence in Syria since government forces battled Druze fighters in Sweida province and near
Damascus
in April and May, leaving more than 100 people dead.
The clashes between the Bedouin and the Druze that first prompted the government deployment were triggered by the kidnapping of a Druze vegetable merchant, according to the Observatory. The two groups have been at loggerheads for decades.
The Islamist authorities have had strained relations with Syria's patchwork of religious and ethnic minorities, and have been repeatedly accused of not doing enough to protect them.
US Secretary of State
Marco Rubio
had expressed concern on Wednesday about the Israeli bombings, adding 'we want it to stop'.
A State Department spokesperson said Washington was also asking Syria to 'withdraw their military in order to enable all sides to de-escalate'.
Rubio later announced on X that all sides had 'agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end'.
'This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do,' he wrote, without elaborating on the nature of the agreement.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ya Libnan
21 minutes ago
- Ya Libnan
After more than 40 years in jail in France, Lebanese militant Georges Abdallah returns home
Lebanese pro-Palestinian militant Georges Abdallah speaks to supporters upon his arrival at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 25, 2025. He is a hero for some but not for others © Hussein Malla, AP After more than four decades behind bars in France, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah – the Lebanese leftist militant imprisoned since 1984 – landed in Beirut after leaving his prison early Friday. His release, authorised by a Paris appeals court July 17 on the condition that he leave France immediately, brings to a close one of the longest political detentions in modern European history. Pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah arrived in Beirut Friday following his release after more than 40 years in detention in France. Upon his arrival, he was transferred into Lebanese custody. For his supporters, Abdallah's release brings long-overdue justice. For others, his name is simply reminiscent of a distant and complex chapter in history. But his return has symbolic weight in his country of origin. 'This moment isn't about sentimentality – it's about the long wait, 40 years of it. It's about resilience in the face of delays, appeals, discrimination. This is not a time for nostalgia, but rather a culmination of time and justice,' said his brother, Robert Abdallah. Abdallah was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for the assassinations of US military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov. While he has always denied direct involvement, Abdallah never distanced himself from the resistance movement he co-founded, the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, a Marxist group aligned with Palestinian and pan-Arab causes that also sought to evict foreign forces – notably Israel – from Lebanese soil. Despite multiple court rulings over the years recommending his release, Abdallah remained in prison due to political pressure – particularly from the United States and Israel. He ultimately served four decades in France's Lannemezan prison, steadfastly refusing to express remorse. Although he completed the minimum sentence in 1999 he remained behind bars, multiple requests for parole having been denied . Preparations to welcome him have been under way ever since, according to Catherine Daher, a journalist and activist for Lebanon's National Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah. 'We can say that preparations to welcome comrade Georges have been ongoing since 1999, when his sentence officially ended,' Daher said. 'Since then, we've faced repeated release orders – in 2003, 2013 and 2024 – that were blocked for political reasons,' she said, making him 'the longest-held political prisoner in Europe'. Now, at 74, Abdallah returns to his hometown of Qoubaiyat in northern Lebanon – not just as a free man resuming civilian life, but as a deeply symbolic figure. Daher said plans are under way for a series of public events upon his return to Lebanon. 'His welcome will include state officials, political leaders, his family, and the national campaign that fought for his release – as well as student groups, media figures, trade unionists, human rights advocates, cultural voices, and activists from France and beyond who played a key role in keeping up the pressure,' she said. One of the first political forces to welcome his release was the Lebanese Communist Party, which hailed Abdallah as a principled 'resistance fighter' who refused to compromise even after four decades behind bars. Hezbollah described Abdallah as a 'hero of resistance' and 'a symbol for every prisoner, fighter and honourable person who raised the banner of dignity in the face of tyrants'. Hezbollah was a newly emergent group at the time of his arrest in 1984. But other major parties have stayed quiet. The Lebanese Forces and Kataeb, two prominent Christian factions with roots in Lebanon's civil war era, have not issued any public comment. 'It's understandable that many Lebanese political factions – especially Christian parties like the Kataeb and Lebanese Forces – have not issued any public statement welcoming Georges Abdallah's return,' said political and social psychologist Ramzi Abou Ismail. 'Although he is a Christian by background, Abdallah never embodied the in-group identity typically promoted by these parties.' 'His alignment with Palestinian armed factions during the civil war, and his rejection of sectarian politics, positioned him as a challenge to the identity they claimed – that of protectors of the Christian community,' he added. Charbel Jabbour, head of communications for the Lebanese Forces, said Abdallah's release symbolically helps close the chapter on Lebanon's civil conflict. 'The war era is over – completely over. Abdallah served his sentence and is being released,' he told FRANCE 24. 'The civil war chapter must be permanently closed. Anything else is unacceptable.' Outside of ideological and political circles, Abdallah's return has generated limited buzz among Lebanon's younger population. For many, his name is unfamiliar – a symbol of a different era, eclipsed by today's crises: economic collapse, political gridlock and mass emigration. Still, his face now adorns posters and social media feeds once again, and he is often depicted not as a militant but as a man who stood by his convictions – regardless of the consequences. 'He's a hero for some, yes. But to others he is not, and to many he is from a time they never lived through,' said one historian, who requested anonymity.
L'Orient-Le Jour
38 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
US forces kill an Islamic State group leader in Syria raid
American forces killed an Islamic State group leader in a raid in Syria's Aleppo province on Friday, the U.S. military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The raid resulted "in the death of senior ISIS leader, Dhiya Zawba Muslih al-Hardani, and his two adult ISIS-affiliated sons," CENTCOM said in a statement, using an acronym for the jihadist group. "These ISIS individuals posed a threat to U.S. and Coalition forces, as well as the new Syrian government," it said, adding that three women and three children were at the location that was raided and were unharmed in the operation. The Islamic State group rose out of the chaos of the Syrian civil war to seize swaths of territory there and in neighboring Iraq over a decade ago. It has since suffered major defeats in both countries, but the United States still periodically targets the jihadist group's remnants with raids or strikes to prevent it from resurging.
L'Orient-Le Jour
38 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
UK, France, Germany say Gaza 'humanitarian catastrophe must end now'
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany said Friday the "humanitarian catastrophe" in the Gaza Strip "must end now," as the war-ravaged Palestinian territory faces a deepening crisis. "We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and urgently allow the U.N. and humanitarian NGOs to carry out their work to take action against starvation," they said in a joint statement released by Berlin. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that "the most basic needs of the civilian population, including access to water and food, must be met without any further delay." "Withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable," they said. "Israel must uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law." More than 100 aid and human rights groups warned this week that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza after more than 21 months of war. Israel has rejected accusations it is responsible for the deepening crisis in Gaza, which the World Health Organization has called "man-made." Israel placed the Gaza Strip under an aid blockade in March, which it only partially eased two months later while sidelining the longstanding U.N.-led distribution system. The European leaders also stressed that "the time has come to end the war in Gaza." "We urge all parties to bring an end to the conflict by reaching an immediate cease-fire." "We stand ready to take further action to support an immediate cease-fire and a political process that leads to lasting security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region," they said. Starmer had earlier said he would hold an "emergency call" on Gaza on Friday with Macron and Merz. Palestinian militant group Hamas triggered the conflict with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel. The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has so far killed 59,676 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
