Syria’s Islamist-led government said its security forces were deploying in the predominantly Druze southern city of Sweida on Saturday, and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire after days of factional bloodshed that has left hundreds dead.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a separate speech, said “Arab and American” mediation had helped bring calm, and criticized Israel for airstrikes against Syrian government forces in the south and Damascus this week.

Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before Damascus sent in government security forces.

Israel has carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus, saying it is protecting the Druze minority, of whom there are a significant number in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

WATCH | Israeli strike on Syrian defence building captured on live TV this week: Israeli strike on Syrian defence building captured on live TV A TV news anchor in Syria was on air when an Israeli strike hit the Ministry of Defence in Damascus on Wednesday, badly damaging the building near the presidential palace.

In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, and urged all parties to end hostilities immediately.

The Interior Ministry said internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida.

Sharaa called for calm and 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.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbours.

Barrack, who is both U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Washington’s Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons “and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity.”

Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities and weaponry in the seven months since Sharaa’s forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad, and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarized.

On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for the next two days.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has announced a “comprehensive” ceasefire in the southern province of Sweida after nearly a week of violence that left hundreds dead.

The government said on Saturday that it was redeploying security forces in the province and called for all parties to refrain from further violence.

Fighting between Druze factions, Bedouin groups and troops loyal to Sharaa’s administration has rocked the region since Sunday, exacerbated by Israeli air strikes.

In a statement on Saturday, Sharaa said the ceasefire must be respected, “ensuring stability and halting the bloodshed”.

“In this context, security forces have begun deploying in a number of areas to ensure the implementation of the ceasefire, maintain public order, and ensure the protection of citizens and their property, thus enhancing calm and stability,” the statement read.

Syrian forces deploy in Sweida as ceasefire begins

A road in Sweida, Syria, shows the scars of war as buildings burn in the distance on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Syria’s Islamist-led government said its internal security forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday as the presidency called on all parties to respect a ceasefire following bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has left hundreds dead.

In a statement, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and urged all parties to commit to it and end hostilities in all areas immediately.

The country’s interior ministry spokesperson said earlier on Saturday that internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida, in southern Syria.

Syria’s Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence that began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before drawing in government security forces that were sent to the area by Damascus.

Israel has said it aims to protect Syria’s Druze minority while also saying it wants areas of south Syria near its border to remain demilitarized. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has accused Israel of seeking to sow division among Syrians.

On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for the next two days.

At least 718 people have been killed in Syria’s Sweida province, a war monitor said in an updated toll for nearly a week of violence in the heartland of the Druze minority.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights counted 146 Druze fighters and 245 civilians among the dead since Sunday, 165 of whom “were summarily executed by personnel of the defence and interior ministries”.

The violence also claimed the lives of 287 government troops and 18 Bedouin fighters, plus three Bedouin “who were summarily executed by Druze fighters”, the Britain-based monitor added. Fifteen more government troops were killed in Israeli air strikes.

The ceasefire took hold as the Israeli military said dozens of its citizens crossed the border with Syria into Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

It said the citizens used violence against Israeli forces trying to disperse a gathering in the area overnight. (AFP)

The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation issued a statement Saturday afternoon, denying reports that Israeli gunfire killed at least 32 Palestinians near its facility in the southern Gaza Strip.

“There were no incidents at or near any of our aid distribution sites today,” the foundation said.

“The reported IDF activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometers away from the nearest GHF site.”

The organization said it has “repeatedly warned aid-seekers not to travel to our sites overnight and early morning hours,” adding that, “The reality is this: we are the only organization feeding Gazans right now.”

The foundation called on the UN to “get off the sidelines and either find a way to deliver aid or let us help them do it.”

07/19/2025 July 19, 2025 Syria’s interim leader urges Bedouin tribes to honor ceasefire

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes to “fully commit” to a ceasefire aimed at ending deadly clashes with Druze-aligned militias that have killed hundreds and threatened the country’s fragile post-war transition.

His call came Saturday as government forces, initially sent to restore order but seen siding with Bedouin fighters, were redeployed to contain renewed fighting that flared late Thursday. The violence also triggered Israeli airstrikes on Syrian government positions before a truce was reached.

In his second televised address since the unrest began, al-Sharaa accused “armed groups from Sweida” of reigniting the conflict by “launching retaliatory attacks against the Bedouins and their families.”

He also warned that Israeli intervention had “pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Sharaa of siding with the perpetrators.

“In al-Sharaa’s Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority — Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian,” Katz posted on X. “This has been proven time and again over the past six months.”