Shafaq News – Damascus

Fighting resumed in Suwayda on Saturday, just hours after the Presidency declared a full and immediate ceasefire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

According to the Observatory, clashes broke out in the city’s western neighborhoods between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribal gunmen, in violation of the internationally backed truce.

#المرصد_السوريالاشـ ـتـ ـبـ ـاكـ ـات تتواصل في مدينة #السويداء وسط انهيار اتفاق وقف إطلاق الـ ـنـ ـار وتقدم للمجموعات الـ ـمـ ـسـ ـلـ ـحـ ـة نحو الأحياء السكنيةhttps://t.co/SCaVHprn9O — المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) July 19, 2025

Meanwhile, Syrian security forces had begun deploying around Suwayda as part of the agreement’s first phase, which calls for separating combatants, releasing detainees, and removing roadblocks.

State media said a second phase will see the formation of a crisis committee to expedite humanitarian aid, restore services, and repair infrastructure, while a third phase will gradually reinstate state institutions and internal security across the province.

Clashes between Druze armed factions and Bedouin tribes had rapidly intensified after initial truce efforts failed, resulting in at least 940 deaths, according to the Observatory.

“In light of the delicate circumstances that the country is going through, in order to save the blood of Syrians, preserve the unity of the Syrian territory and the safety of its people, and in response to national and humanitarian responsibility, the Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic declares a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire,” the Syrian presidency wrote in a statement shared on Telegram on Saturday.

“This is a ceasefire achieved through strength,” Netanyahu said in a recorded statement. “Not through pleas, not through begging — through strength.”

The U.S.’s Barrack said the agreement is supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighboring countries.

“We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors,” Barrack wrote in his post early Saturday.

A conflict between the Druze minority and other tribes in Syria’s southern Sweida region has killed hundreds of people in the past week. Israel intervened by striking the Syrian capital of Damascus and the south of the country, vowing to protect the Druze, a community that is present in the Sweida region and also in Israel and Lebanon.

On Friday, Israel agreed to let Syria deploy troops in the Sweida region for 48 hours to end clashes, Reuters reported, citing an Israeli official.

Netanyahu ordered air strikes to defend Minoria Drusa, in confrontation with groups in Sweida, near the border with Jordan

Israel and Syria established a ceasefire, according to the governments of the 2 countries on Saturday (19.Jul.2025). The agreement arises after Israel made air strikes against Syria earlier this week, with the aim of defending the Drusa minority.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud, right) confirmed the pact. Tom Barrack, a special sent from the United States to Syria and ambassador in Türkiye, was the 1st to disclose the agreement.

The Syrian Presidency explained the reasons for accepting the ceasefire in a statement released by Telegram and quoted by: “In view of the delicate circumstances the country is going through, in order to save the blood of the Syrians, to preserve the unity of the Syrian territory and the safety of its people, and in response to national and humanitarian responsibility, the Presidency of the Arab Republic Syrian declares a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire”.

The conflict that motivated the agreement occurred because of clashes between the Drusa minority and other groups in southern Sweida, Syria. These clashes resulted in hundreds of deaths last week.

On Friday (18.Jul), Israel agreed to allow Syria to send troops to the Sweida region for a period of 48 hours to end the clashes, according to, citing an Israeli employee.

Israel made air strikes against the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the south of the country as part of its intervention. The Druse minority is present not only in Sweida, but also in Israeli territory and Lebanon.

Netanyahu characterized the agreement as a force -based achievement: “This is a ceasefire achieved through force. Not through supplications, not by begging – by the force”.

The ceasefire agreement has the support of Türkiye, Jordan, and neighboring countries, as stated by Barck, the US special envoy.

Tom Barrack appealed to the parties involved: “We call Drudos, Bedouins and Sunni to testify their weapons and, together with other minorities, build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with their neighbors”.

Israel on Wednesday launched airstrikes in Damascus and southern Syria, demanding government withdrawal and asserting its intent to protect the region’s influential Syrian Druze minority.

Israel and Syria have reached a ceasefire agreement after days of deadly violence in the Druze region that left over 300 dead, the U.S. envoy to Turkiye said on Friday.

On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus and hit government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze – part of a small but influential minority that also has members in Lebanon and Israel.

“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity,” Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkiye, said in a post on X.

Barrack said that Israel and Syria agreed to the ceasefire supported by Turkiye, Jordan and neighbours.

The Israeli embassy in Washington and the Syrian consulate in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Syria’s Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions.

Limited Access

Earlier on Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area of southern Syria for the next two days.

The Syrian presidency said late on Friday that authorities would deploy a force in the south dedicated to ending the clashes, in coordination with political and security measures to restore stability and prevent the return of violence.

Damascus earlier this week dispatched government 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 Wednesday.

Israel had repeatedly said it would not allow Syrian troops to deploy to the country’s south, but on Friday, it said it would grant them a brief window to end renewed clashes there.

“In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the (Syrian) internal security forces into the Sweida district for the next 48 hours,” the official, who declined to be named, told reporters.

‘Shielding’ Druze Minority

Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has vowed to shield the area’s Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze minority.

It carried out more strikes on Sweida in the early hours of Friday.

The U.S. intervened to help secure the earlier truce between government forces and Druze fighters, and the White House said on Thursday that it appeared to be holding.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has worked to establish warmer ties with the U.S., accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority.

Reuters reporters saw a convoy of units from Syria’s interior ministry stopped on a road in Daraa province, which lies directly east of Sweida. A security source told Reuters that forces were awaiting a final green light to enter Sweida.

But thousands of Bedouin fighters were still streaming into Sweida on Friday, the Reuters reporters said, prompting fears among residents that violence would continue unabated.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented 321 deaths in fighting since Sunday, among them medical personnel, women and children. It said they included field executions by all sides.

Syria’s minister for emergencies said more than 500 wounded had been treated and hundreds of families had been evacuated out of the city.

‘Noting At All’

Clashes continued in the north and west of Sweida province, according to residents and Ryan Marouf, the head of local news outlet Sweida24.

Residents said they had little food and water, and that electricity had been cut to the city for several days.

“For four days, there has been no electricity, no fuel, no food, no drink, nothing at all,” said Mudar, a 28-year-old resident of Sweida who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of reprisals.

“The clashes haven’t stopped,” he said, adding that “we can’t get news easily because there’s barely internet or phone coverage.”

The head of the U.N. human rights office urged Syria’s interim authorities to ensure accountability for what it said are credible reports of widespread rights violations during the fighting, including summary executions and kidnappings, the office said in a statement.

At least 13 people were unlawfully killed in one recorded incident on Tuesday when affiliates of the interim authorities opened fire at a family gathering, the OHCHR said. Six men were summarily executed near their homes the same day.

The UN refugee agency on Friday urged all sides to allow humanitarian access, which it said had been curtailed by the violence.

Israel’s deep distrust of Syria’s new Islamist-led leadership appears to be at odds with the United States, which said it did not support the recent Israeli strikes on Syria.

(With inputs from Reuters)

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barak, announced that Syria and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire following days of escalating tensions, including Israeli airstrikes on Damascus and Syrian military sites, allegedly aimed at “protecting the Druze.”

Barak stated on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday that “the agreement has been accepted by Turkey, Jordan, and other neighboring countries,” calling on “Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to lay down their arms and work with other minorities to build a new, unified Syrian identity, in peace and prosperity with its neighbors.”

Neither side has officially commented on the reported agreement.

The ceasefire follows Israeli airstrikes on Syria last Wednesday, which Israel claimed were intended to protect the Druze population.

Earlier, Syria announced that its army had begun withdrawing from Sweida, where clashes broke out over the weekend between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes, prompting government forces to intervene. The fighting between pro-government forces and Druze groups resulted in dozens of casualties.