Calm reported in Syria’s Sweida as tribal fighters withdraw – The Times of Israel
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Syria: Calm reported in Sweida, Damascus says truce holding
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Residents reported calm in Syria’s Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and a US envoy signalled that a deal to end days of fighting was being implemented.
With hundreds reported killed, the Sweida bloodshed is a major test for interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, prompting Israel to launch air strikes against government forces last week as it declared support for the Druze. Fighting continued on Saturday despite a ceasefire call.
Interior minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday that internal security forces had managed to calm the situation and enforce the ceasefire, “paving the way for a prisoner exchange and the gradual return of stability throughout the governorate”.
Reuters images showed interior ministry forces near the city, blocking the road in front of members of tribes congregated there. The Interior Ministry said late on Saturday that Bedouin fighters had left the city.
[ Who are the Druze, and why did Israel say it was striking Syria for their benefit?Opens in new window ]
US envoy Tom Barrack said the sides had “navigated to a pause and cessation of hostilities”. “The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion, and lasting de-escalation, is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process,” he wrote on X.
Kenan Azzam, a dentist, said there was an uneasy calm but the city’s residents were struggling with a lack of water and electricity. “The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone.
Another resident, Raed Khazaal, said aid was urgently needed. “Houses are destroyed … The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital,” he said in a voice message to Reuters from Sweida.
The Syrian state news agency said an aid convoy sent to the city by the government was refused entry while aid organised by the Syrian Red Crescent was let in. A source familiar with the situation said local factions in Sweida had turned back the government convoy.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday that Israel sent urgent medical aid to the Druze in Sweida and the step was co-ordinated with Washington and Syria. Officials for prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the foreign ministry and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Druze are a small but influential minority in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shiite Islam. Some hardline Sunnis deem their beliefs heretical.
The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against the Druze.
Residents of the predominantly Druze city said friends and neighbours were shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and insignia.
Sharaa on Thursday promised to protect the rights of Druze and to hold to account those who committed violations against “our Druze people”.
He has blamed the violence on “outlaw groups”.
While Sharaa has won US backing since meeting US president Donald Trump in May, the violence has underscored the challenge he faces stitching back together a country shattered by 14 years of conflict, and added to pressures on its mosaic of sectarian and ethnic groups.
After Israel bombed Syrian government forces in Sweida and hit the defence ministry in Damascus last week, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarisation of territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida.
He also said Israel would protect the Druze.
The United States however said it did not support the Israeli strikes. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for two days.
A Syrian security source told Reuters that internal security forces had taken up positions near Sweida, establishing checkpoints in western and eastern parts of the province where retreating tribal fighters had gathered.
On Sunday, Sharaa received the report of an inquiry into violence in Syria’s coastal region in March, where Reuters reported in June that Syrian forces killed 1,500 members of the Alawite minority following attacks on security forces.
The presidency said it would review the inquiry’s conclusions and ensure steps to “bring about justice” and prevent the recurrence of “such violations”. It called on the inquiry to hold a news conference on its findings – if appropriate – as soon as possible.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said on July 18th it had documented the deaths of at least 321 people in Sweida province since July 13th. The preliminary toll included civilians, women, children, Bedouin fighters, members of local groups and members of the security forces, it said, and the dead included people killed in field executions by both sides.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another monitoring group, has reported a death toll of at least 940 people.
Reuters could not independently verify the tolls. -Reuters
Calm Returns To South Syria After Violence That Killed 1,000: Monitor
Ceasefire in Syria’s Sweida province appears to be holding after a week of violence. Government forces have blocked roads to the city to prevent tribal fighters going there. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence, including 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians. The United Nations says more than 128,000 have been displaced by the violence in the south of the country, including 150,000 in the city of Sweida. The U.S. special envoy to Syria says the country is at a “critical juncture” and that “peace and dialogue must prevail now” and stop “brutal acts by warring factions on the ground” The United States has called on the Syrian government to protect the country’s ethnic and religious minorities, including the Druze and the Bedouin, who have been at the centre of the violence.
A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals the Druze and the Bedouin that spiralled to draw in the Islamist-led government, the Israeli military and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.
AFP correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no clashes on Sunday morning, with government forces deployed in some locations in the province to enforce the truce and at least one humanitarian convoy headed for the Druze-majority city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight (2100 GMT Saturday), “Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm”, adding government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there.
The Britain-based Observatory gave an updated toll on Sunday of more than 1,000 killed since the violence erupted a week ago, including 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the minority group, as well as 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin.
Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses including summary executions when they entered Sweida days ago.
Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, told AFP that “the city hasn’t seen calm like this in a week”.
The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was “evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighbourhoods were halted”.
The Observatory had said Druze fighters retook control of the city on Saturday evening.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had on Saturday announced a fresh ceasefire in Sweida and renewed a pledge to protect Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities in the face of the latest sectarian violence since Islamists overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.
A spokesman for Syria’s tribal and clan council told Al Jazeera late Saturday that fighters had left the city “in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement”.
Another medic inside Sweida told AFP by telephone on Sunday that “the situation is totally calm… We aren’t hearing clashes.”
“No medical or relief assistance has entered until now,” the medic added, requesting anonymity due to the security situation.
State news agency SANA published images showing medical aid being prepared near the health ministry in Damascus and quoted Health Minister Musab al-Ali as saying assistance would be delivered to Sweida’s main hospital, where bodies have piled up.
Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce.
The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence.
US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sunday that the country stood at a “critical juncture”, adding that “peace and dialogue must prevail — and prevail now”.
“All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance,” he wrote on X, saying “brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government’s authority and disrupt any semblance of order”.
Sharaa’s announcement Saturday came hours after the United States said it had negotiated a ceasefire between Syria’s government and Israel, which had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week.
Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it was acting in defence of the group, as well as to enforce its demands for the total demilitarisation of Syria’s south.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government’s security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and “carrying out massacres” in the south, and called on Damascus to “bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks”.
Syria’s Sweida ‘calm’ after ceasefire
Fighting in Syria’s Sweida ‘halted’ yesterday, the government said. Druze fighters had pushed out rival armed factions from the city. More than 900 people have been killed in Sweida since Sunday last week. Clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the Islamist-led government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later on social media called on the Syrian government to prevent jihadists from entering and “carrying out massacres.” The US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention had been announced by Washington early on Saturday. The deal had the backing of Turkey and Jordan, the US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said in a televised speech in which he renewed his pledge to protect Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities. He said the Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country.
AFP, SWEIDA, Syria
Fighting in Syria’s Sweida “halted” yesterday, the government said, after the southern city was recaptured by Druze fighters and state forces redeployed to the region where more than 900 people have been killed in sectarian violence.
Druze fighters had pushed out rival armed factions from the city on Saturday, a monitor said, after the government ordered a ceasefire following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention.
Sweida was “evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighborhoods were halte,” Syrian Ministry of Interior spokesman Noureddine al-Baba wrote on Telegram.
A Syrian Internal Security Forces officer stands guard at a checkpoint in Walgha, Sweida province, Syria, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Israel had bombed government forces in Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province.
More than 900 people have been killed in Sweida since Sunday last week as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the Islamist-led government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.
Earlier on Saturday, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them.
By the evening, Bassem Fakhr, spokesman for the Men of Dignity, one of the two largest Druze armed groups, said there was “no Bedouin presence in the city.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor also said “tribal fighters withdrew from Sweida city on Saturday evening” after Druze fighters launched a large-scale attack.
Fighting nonetheless persisted in other parts of Sweida province, even as the Druze regained control of their city following days of fierce battle with armed Bedouin supported by tribal gunmen from other parts of Syria.
The deal between the Islamist-government and Israel had been announced by Washington early on Saturday.
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “have agreed to a ceasefire” negotiated by the US.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later on social media called on the Syrian government’s security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and “carrying out massacres.”
He also urged the Syrian government to “hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks.”
Barrack, who is the US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal had the backing of Turkey and Jordan.
Barrack later held a meeting in Amman with the Syrian and Jordanian top diplomats, during which they “agreed on practical steps to support Syria in implementing the agreement”, the US envoy said.
Sharaa followed up on the US announcement with a televised speech in which he announced an immediate ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to protect Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.
“The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country… We condemn all crimes committed” in Sweida, he said.
The president paid tribute to the “important role played by the United States, which again showed its support for Syria in these difficult circumstances and its concern for the country’s stability.”
Israel expressed deep skepticism about Sharaa’s pledge to protect minorities, pointing to deadly violence against Alawites as well as Druze since he led the overthrow of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December.
In Sharaa’s Syria “it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority — Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian,” Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar wrote on social media.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said at least 940 people had been killed in the violence since Sunday last week.
Palestinian Health Ministry says 73 people killed while waiting for aid in Gaza – as it happened
Netanyahu fell ill overnight and was found to be suffering from intestinal inflammation and dehydration. He will rest at home for the next three days and will manage state affairs from there.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 75, is recovering from a bout of food poisoning, his office has said.
He fell ill overnight and was found to be suffering from intestinal inflammation and dehydration, for which he is receiving intravenous fluids, a statement said.
“In accordance with his doctors’ instructions, the prime minister will rest at home for the next three days and will manage state affairs from there,” his office added.
Netanyahu was fitted with a pacemaker in 2023 and last December he had his prostate removed after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.
Calm reported in Syria’s Sweida as tribal fighters said to have withdrawn
There was no sign of fighting in the city of Damascus on July 20. The fighting began a week ago when Israeli troops attacked the Syrian army. The Syrian army responded by attacking the Israeli troops with machine guns and mortars. The conflict is now in its seventh year.
The fighting in Sweida, Syria, began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters.
DAMASCUS – Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on July 20 after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.
There was no sound of gunfire on the morning of July 20 , according to a resident speaking from the city outskirts, while a Druze source in the region said there was calm in most areas.
Mr Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on the morning of July 20 as “a tense calm” but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity.
“The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone.
The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters.
Damascus then sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze and were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on July 16 .