Latest news with #SouthernSyria
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Clashes rage in Druze region as Syria struggles to enforce ceasefire
By Khalil Ashawi and Laila Bassam , Reuters Tribal and bedouin fighters cross Walga town as they mobilise amid clashes with Druze gunmen, near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on July 19, 2025. Photo: ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggles to implement a ceasefire . Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Late on Saturday (US Time), the interior ministry said clashes in Sweida city had been halted and the area cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters following the deployment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people . Reuters could not independently verify the toll. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for airstrikes during the week . The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's Islamist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. The violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the defence ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel said it was protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and Washington differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel said the government was dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority, to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday (US time), the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa upon his arrival for a meeting with the French president at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on May 7, 2025 (L) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group's chief Abu Mohamed al-Jolani (now Ahmed al-Sharaa) in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province at the border with Turkey, on February 7, 2023. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN, OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sharaa was siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority - Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday (US Time) that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell, and said it wanted areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday (US Time), an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon (US Time), and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," director of the hospital Omar Obeid said. - Reuters
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syria's interim president says protecting Druze a 'priority'
In his first televised statement Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying "we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party." Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting Druze citizens and their rights is "our priority," as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria. In his first televised statement after powerful Israeli air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying "we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party." "We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction," he said. He added that the Syrian people are not afraid of war and are ready to fight if their dignity is threatened. Israel's airstrikes blew up part of Syria's defense ministry and hit near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw. The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against Sharaa's Islamist-led administration. They came despite his warming ties with the US and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel. Describing Syria's new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has said it will not let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area's Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel's own Druze minority. The US said the fighting would stop soon. "We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media. The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to address the conflict, diplomats said. "The council must condemn the barbaric crimes committed against innocent civilians on Syrian soil," said Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon. "Israel will continue to act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders, anywhere and at any time." Warplanes over Damascus The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 169 people had been killed in this week's violence. Security sources put the toll at 300. Reuters could not independently verify the tolls. Reuters reporters heard warplanes swoop low over the capital Damascus and unleash a series of massive strikes on Wednesday afternoon. Columns of smoke rose from the area near the defense ministry. A section of the building was destroyed, the ground strewn with rubble. An Israeli military official said the entrance to the military headquarters in Damascus was struck, along with a military target near the presidential palace. The official said Syrian forces were not acting to prevent attacks on Druze and were part of the problem. "We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold," said Eyal Zamir, Israel's military chief of staff. Sharaa faces challenges to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that fear Islamist rule. In March, mass killings of members of the Alawite minority exacerbated the mistrust. Druze, followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam, are spread between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Following calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military was working to save the Druze and urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed. Israeli Druze Faez Shkeir said he felt helpless watching the violence in Syria. "My family is in Syria - my wife is in Syria, my uncles are from Syria, and my family is in Syria, in Sweida, I don't like to see them being killed. They kicked them out of their homes, they robbed and burned their houses, but I can't do anything," he said. Solve the daily Crossword
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘Israel is calling the shots in many ways' says Al Jazeera reporter
'Israel is calling the shots in many ways' says Al Jazeera reporter in Syria NewsFeed As fighting continues between factions in southern Syria and the country's army faces threats from Israel if it intervenes, Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr says Israel's posture poses a major challenge to the Syrian government. Video Duration 01 minutes 57 seconds 01:57 Video Duration 00 minutes 31 seconds 00:31 Video Duration 01 minutes 05 seconds 01:05 Video Duration 01 minutes 33 seconds 01:33 Video Duration 02 minutes 03 seconds 02:03 Video Duration 00 minutes 34 seconds 00:34 Video Duration 02 minutes 45 seconds 02:45
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Syrian government forces set to re-enter Sweida province after renewed Druze-Bedouin clashes
DAMASCUS, Syria — Renewed clashes broke out overnight between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria, and government forces were preparing to deploy again to the area Friday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted several days of violence earlier this week, officials said.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Syria's Sharaa vows to protect Druze rights as ceasefire holds
DAMASCUS, July 17 (Reuters) - Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority on Thursday, after U.S. intervention helped end deadly fighting between government forces and Druze fighters in the south. Overnight, the Islamist-led government's troops withdrew from the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, where scores of people have been killed in days of conflict pitting Druze fighters against government troops and Bedouin tribes. One local journalist said he'd counted more than 60 bodies in the streets of Sweida on Thursday morning. Ryan Marouf of Suwayda24 told Reuters he had found a family of 12 people killed in one house, including women and an elderly man. Violence in Syria escalated sharply on Wednesday as Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze - part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel. Israel, which bombed Syria frequently under the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, has struck the country repeatedly this year, describing its new leaders as barely disguised jihadists and saying it will not allow them to deploy forces in areas of southern Syria near its border. Addressing Syrians on Thursday, interim President Sharaa accused Israel of seeking to "dismantle the unity of our people", saying it had "consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime". Sharaa, who was commander of an al Qaeda faction before cutting ties with the group in 2016, said protecting Druze citizens and their rights was "our priority" and rejected any attempt to drag them into the hands of an "external party". He also vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarisation of a swathe of territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida. He reiterated Israel's policy to protect the Druze. Syria had sent "its army south of Damascus into an area that was supposed to remain demilitarized, and it began massacring Druze. This was something we could not accept in any way," he said, adding: "It is a ceasefire achieved through strength". The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented 193 dead in four days of fighting, among them medical personnel, women and children. The Network's head Fadel Abdulghany told Reuters the figure included cases of field executions by both sides, Syrians killed by Israeli strikes and others killed in clashes but that it would take time to break down the figures for each category. A Sweida resident, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Amer, out of fear of reprisals, shared a video of his neighbours slain in their home. It showed a lifeless man in a chair, an elderly man with a gunshot wound to his right temple on the floor and a younger man, face down in a pool of blood. Amid reports of revenge attacks on Bedouin on Thursday, leading Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari called for peaceful Bedouin tribes to be respected and not harmed. One reporter in Sweida this week saw government fighters loot and burn homes, including just before they departed Sweida overnight. Fighters also shaved off the moustaches of Druze men. Moustaches are worn by Druze sheikhs and many other Druze men as a symbol of religious and cultural identity with spiritual significance. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late on Wednesday the United States had engaged all the parties involved and that steps had been agreed that would end "this troubling and horrifying situation". Sharaa credited U.S. Arab and Turkish mediation for saving "the region from an uncertain fate". The violence has underlined the challenges that Sharaa faces in stabilizing Syria and exerting centralised rule over the country, despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel. Sharaa faces challenges to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that fear Islamist rule. In March, mass killings of members of the Alawite minority exacerbated the mistrust. Israel's airstrikes on Wednesday blew up part of Syria's defence ministry and hit near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria. The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to address the conflict, diplomats said.
