Truce takes hold in Syria's Sweida, after clans' 'defense' of Sunni 'cousins'
"When the government forces withdrew, the Druze took advantage of the situation to kill and abduct Bedouins from the city. They are our cousins, we came to defend them," said Hussein, an unemployed economics graduate, interviewed on Saturday in the town of Busra al-Harir, 20 kilometers west of Sweida.
Armed with rifles stolen from police stations in the chaos following the fall of Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, in December 2024, the three friends fought until they ran out of ammunition. While in downtown Sweida, they said, they came under artillery fire and were targeted by Druze snipers. The tribal fighters, Mohammed said, "entered the city alone, without command. That led to many mistakes and friendly fire." He said he had helped to free three Bedouin families who had been trapped by the fighting.
'When the clan calls, you must answer'
Sitting in the health center at Busra al-Harir, on Saturday, July 19, the three friends watched, somewhat dazed, as a steady stream of wounded and dead men, all tribal fighters, were brought back from the front lines by ambulance crews. Sunni doctor Mohammed al-Hariri, who runs the center as a stabilization point, said it was "a terrible situation, but not as bad as yesterday." The ceasefire concluded between the authorities in Damascus and Druze notables in Sweida, announced at dawn after Washington negotiated a truce between Israel and Syria, was only largely respected from Sunday onward.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Israel intercepts Gaza-bound ship carrying activists and humanitarian aid
The Israeli military has intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship seeking to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory, detaining 21 international activists and journalists and seizing all cargo, including baby formula, food and medicine, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on Sunday, July 27. The coalition that operates the vessel Handala said the Israeli military "violently intercepted" the ship in international waters about 40 nautical miles from Gaza, cutting the cameras and communication, just before midnight Saturday. Four French citizens, including two elected officials from the radical left La France Insoumise party, were on board the ship. Two Al-Jazeera journalists were also arrested. The boat had left Italy on July 13, six weeks after the departure of the Madleen, which had also been intercepted earlier by Israeli forces. "All cargo was non-military, civilian and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation and medical collapse under Israel's illegal blockade," the group said in a statement. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Israel's Foreign Ministry posted on X early Sunday that the Navy stopped the vessel and was bringing it to shore. It was the second ship operated by the coalition that Israel has prevented in recent months from delivering aid to Gaza, where food experts have for months warned of the risk of famine. Activist Greta Thunberg was among 12 activists on board the ship Madleen when it was seized by the Israeli military in June. In May, the coalition's civilian aid ship Conscience sustained a drone attack off Malta that disabled the vessel. The ship's interception comes as Israel faces mounting international criticism over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, with concern growing over rising hunger in the territory amid Israeli restrictions on aid. A regional human rights group, Adalah, said the raid on the vessel violated international law. It demanded the immediate release of the 21 activists, including lawmakers and human rights campaigners, from 10 countries. Adalah said the vessel has arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod, but that its lawyers have been denied access to the detained activists. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, regarding two Italians on board, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Sa'ar indicated that if they don't agree to leave the country immediately, they would be forcibly repatriated over the next three days, the ministry said. Also on board were seven US citizens, including a human rights attorney, a Jewish US war veteran and a Jewish-American activist, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Earlier, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the Israeli navy stopped the Handala to prevent it from entering the coastal waters off the territory of Gaza. "The vessel is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. All passengers are safe," it said. Just before midnight local time on Saturday, a video livestream broadcast from the Handala showed Israeli troops boarding the vessel. An online tracker showed the ship in international waters west of Gaza. The Handala's crew had said before their capture in a post on X that they would go on a hunger strike if the Israeli army intercepted the boat and detained its passengers.
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
The devastating ambition of Israel's defense minister
In just a few weeks, Benjamin Netanyahu will reach a cumulative total of 18 years as Israel's prime minister. Thanks to his political maneuvering skills and alliance with supremacists, he hopes to remain prime minister until October 2026, when the current four-year term of the Knesset, Israel's unicameral parliament, will end. Such stability contrasted sharply with the chaotic succession of five snap elections held between April 2019 and November 2022. The politician's remarkable longevity is based on a proven formula for achieving a majority of 61 out of 120 seats in the Knesset. This formula included securing around 30 seats for his party, Likud; maintaining an alliance with two ultra-Orthodox parties that consistently control about 15 seats; and shoring up a parliamentary majority with an additional 15 lawmakers currently drawn from the far-right supremacist bloc. Netanyahu had also always been careful to prevent the rise of any personality who could challenge him from within the Likud. The 'transfer' of Gaza's population Now over 75 years old, he has seen ambitions sharpening within his own party. The most serious contender at this point is Israel Katz, who is six years his junior. Katz owes his career to the prime minister, who since 2009 has entrusted him with the portfolios of transport, intelligence, energy, finance and twice foreign affairs. Netanyahu appointed him as defense minister in November 2024 to replace former general Yoav Gallant, due to his loyalty and tenacity as Israel's foreign minister. While Gallant believed the Israeli army had achieved its military objectives in Gaza months earlier, Katz revived Netanyahu's rhetoric about achieving "total victory" over Hamas. Katz further solidified this hardline stance by establishing a "special agency for the voluntary departure of Gaza's residents" within his ministry. Katz is actively promoting the "transfer" of Gaza's population to distance himself from his mentor, Netanyahu, who is bound by certain rhetorical constraints. Already a vocal advocate for annexing the West Bank, Katz is counting on the popularity of supremacist ideas within the Likud party, given that over 80% of Israeli Jews supported expelling Gaza's residents.
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
Southern Syria's Bedouins, the other victims of the battle for
A Syrian Red Crescent vehicle preceded the small bus as it made its way through the no-man's land separating the last checkpoint manned by Druze factions at the foot of the Jabal al-Druze mountain from the checkpoint controlled by the general security, the Syrian police, in Busra, near the Jordanian border. Around 20 Bedouins were evacuated from and surrounding villages on Thursday, July 24, at midday. "We are scared. The situation is not yet stable. We prefer to leave and wait for things to calm down," said a man in his 30s from Rsas, a mixed Bedouin-Druze village south of Sweidaefused to give his name for security reasons. Two of his cousins, who are farmers aged 30 and 35, were captured by Druze fighters on July 17. "For the first two days, we knew where they were and who was holding them. But when their captors realized this, they moved them and only told us that they were alive. They let me hear their voices. They were completely broken. I could tell by their voices that they had been mistreated," the Bedouin said, careful to share as little as possible. "Those who arrested them are civilians, but they took them to the Military Council of , the largest faction in the predominantly Druze city in southern Syria," he finally said. "They asked us to put pressure on the clans to release their Druze prisoners in exchange."
