Druze

Syria’s armed Bedouin clans have announced their withdrawal from the Druze-majority city of Suwayda after weeklong clashes and a United States-brokered ceasefire.

Fighting between Druze fighters and Sunni Muslim clans killed more than 250 people and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile post-war transition.

Israel also launched dozens of air strikes in the southern province of Suwayda, targeting government forces, who had in effect sided with the Bedouins.

The fighting also led to a series of sectarian attacks against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouins.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has been perceived as more sympathetic to the Bedouins, tried to appeal to the Druze community while remaining critical of its fighters. He later urged the Bedouins to leave the city, saying they “cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country’s affairs and restoring security”.

Dozens of armed Bedouins alongside other clans from around the country who came to support them remained on the outskirts of Suwayda as government security forces and military police were deployed on Sunday to oversee their exit from the entire province. The Bedouin fighters blamed the clashes on Druze factions loyal to spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and accused them of harming Bedouin families.

The Syrian government on Monday began evacuating Bedouin families trapped inside Suwayda.

Syrian state media said on Sunday that the government had coordinated with some officials in Suwayda to bring in coaches to evacuate about 1,500 Bedouins from the city. Interior Minister Ahmad al-Dalati told the SANA news agency that the initiative would also allow displaced civilians from Suwayda to return because the fighting has largely stopped and efforts for a complete ceasefire are ongoing.

Syrian authorities did not give further details about the evacuation or how it ties into the broader agreement after failed talks for a captive exchange deal.

Syria’s government says it has cleared Bedouin fighters from the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda and declared a halt to the deadly clashes there, hours after deploying security forces to the restive southern region.

The announcement on Saturday came after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ordered a new ceasefire between Bedouin and Druze groups, following a separate United States-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention in the clashes.

Shortly before the government’s claim, there were reports of machinegun fire in the city of Suwayda as well as mortar shelling in nearby villages.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Nour al-Din Baba, a spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of Interior, said in a statement carried by the official Sana news agency that the fighting ended “following intensive efforts” to implement the ceasefire agreement and the deployment of government forces in the northern and western areas of Suwayda province.

He said the city of Suwayda has now been “cleared of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighbourhoods have been brought to a halt”.

Israeli intervention

The fighting broke out last week when the abduction of a Druze truck driver on a public highway set off a series of revenge attacks and resulted in tribal fighters from all over the country streaming into Suwayda in support of the Bedouin community there.

The clashes drew in Syrian government troops, too.

Israel also intervened in the conflict on Wednesday, carrying out heavy air attacks on Suwayda and Syria’s capital, Damascus, claiming it was to protect the Druze community after leaders of the minority group accused government forces of abuses against them.

At least 260 people have been killed in the fighting, and 1,700 others have been wounded, according to the Syrian Ministry of Health. Other groups, however, put the figure at more than 900 victims.

More than 87,000 people have also been displaced.

The fighting is the latest challenge to al-Sharaa’s government, which took over after toppling President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Al-Sharaa, in a televised statement on Saturday, called on all parties to lay down arms and help the government restore peace.

“While we thank the [Bedouin] clans for their heroic stance, we call on them to adhere to the ceasefire and follow the orders of the state,” he said. “All should understand this moment requires unity and full cooperation, so we can overcome these challenges and preserve our country from foreign interference and internal sedition.”

He condemned Israel’s intervention in the unrest, saying it “pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability”.

After the president’s call, Bedouin groups confirmed leaving the city of Suwayda.

“Following consultations with all members of Suwayda’s clans and tribes, we have decided to adhere to the ceasefire, prioritise reason and restraint, and allow the state’s authorised institutions the space to carry out their responsibilities in restoring security and stability,” they said in a statement.

“Therefore, we declare that all our fighters have been withdrawn from the city of Suwayda,” they added.

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Damascus said the Druze, too, seemed to have accepted the truce.

“Hikmat Al Hajri, a prominent spiritual leader, has called for all Bedouin fighters to be escorted safely out of Suwayda. Security forces from the interior ministry have been deployed to help separate rival groups, and oversee the implementation of the ceasefire. But there are still reports of ongoing fighting in the city, with some Druze leaders voicing strong opposition to the cessation of hostilities,” he said.

Vall added that while “there is hope” of an end to the hostilities, “there is also doubt that this conflict is over”.

World welcomes truce

Jordan, meanwhile, has hosted talks with Syria and the US on efforts to consolidate the ceasefire in Suwayda.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shibani and the US special envoy for Syria, Thomas Barak, “discussed the situation in Syria and efforts to consolidate the ceasefire reached around Suwayda Governorate to prevent bloodshed and preserve the safety of civilians”, according to a readout by the Jordanian government.

The three officials agreed on “practical steps” to support the ceasefire, including the release of detainees held by all parties, Syrian security force deployments and community reconciliation efforts.

Safadi also welcomed the Syrian government’s “commitment to holding accountable all those responsible for violations against Syrian citizens” in the Suwayda area, the statement said.

Countries around the world have also called for the truce to be upheld.

The United Kingdom’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, said in a post on X that he was horrified by the violence in southern Syria and that “a sustainable ceasefire is vital”.

France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs stressed the need for “Syrian authorities to ensure the safety and rights of all segments of the Syrian people”, and called for investigations into abuses against civilians in Suwayda.

Japan also expressed concern over the violence, including the Israeli strikes, and called for the ceasefire to be implemented swiftly.

It added that it “strongly urges all parties concerned to exercise maximum restraint, preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and national unity, and respect its independence and sovereignty”.

On Wednesday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video message to his country’s Druze minority. He implored them not to cross into southwestern Syria to support Syrian Druze militiamen in their fight against local Bedouin and government forces in Suwayda.

And yet, as Netanyahu made the statement, his own forces were bombing the Syrian capital Damascus, hitting the country’s Ministry of Defence, and killing at least three people.

Netanyahu claimed that he had deployed Israel’s military might in the defence of the Druze.

“My brothers, the Druze citizens of Israel, the situation in Suweyda in southwestern Syria is very serious,” the principal architect of the 2018 nation-state law that’s been widely criticised for marginalising the Druze and other minorities said. “We are acting to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the gangs of the regime,” he assured them, referring to the Syrian government.

Israel’s Druze

Sectarian tensions between the Druze and local Bedouins in Suweyda are longstanding. Meanwhile, attempts by the newly formed Syrian government, which took power after the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December, to assert control over the region have been frustrated in part by Israel’s repeated threats against the presence of the Syrian military near its border.

There are roughly 700,000 Druze in Syria. Another 150,000 Druze live in Israel, where, at least before the 2018 law emphasising only Jewish self-determination, many regarded themselves as bound by a “blood covenant” with their Jewish neighbours since 1948 and the founding of Israel at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed in the Nakba. While some now feel like “second-class” citizens, the majority are still supportive of the Israeli state, where they serve in the military.

“The Israeli Druze see themselves as Druze, as Israelis, and as Arabs,” Rami Zeedan, an associate professor at the University of Kansas and the founder and editor-in-chief of Druze Studies Journal, said.

“Part of the identification with Israel is the feeling of both Jews and Druze being persecuted minorities,” he added. “Israeli Druze still feel that they have much more to gain from Israel compared to any other hypothetical future. As a cornerstone of this alliance is the protection of the Druze community.”

“The Israeli Druze are now trying to use that and urge the Israeli government to protect fellow Druze in Syria,” he said, explaining, in part, the justification for Israel’s strikes on Syria, where the Druze community has traditionally been anti-Israel, even as some leaders grow closer to Israel.

‘Pure opportunism’

But the reality is that Israel has long attacked Syria, even before the latest outbreak of violence involving the Druze in Suwayda.

Since the ousting of al-Assad after a 14-year war, Israel has struck Syria hundreds of times and invaded and occupied about 400 square kilometres (155sq miles) of its territory, excluding the western Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967.

Leading analysts within Israel suggest that these latest attacks may not have been entirely motivated by concern for the welfare of the Druze, so much as the personal and political aims of the Israeli government and its embattled prime minister.

“It’s pure opportunism,” Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera. “Of course, it’s nice to pretend that we’re helping our friends the Druze, in the same way as we never helped our other friends, the Kurds,” he said, referring to another regional ethnic group.

Pinkas sketched out a number of the motivations behind Israel’s recent strikes on Syria, from boosting Netanyahu’s newfound self-image as a wartime leader, to pushing back his corruption trial, to reinforcing the “delusion” that, over the previous 21 months, Israel has somehow managed to reshape the Middle East through military force alone.

“Lastly, he doesn’t want to see a unified Syria with a strong central government controlled by al-Sharaa,” Pinkas said. “He wants a weak central government dealing with areas controlled by the Kurds [in the north] and the Druze and Bedouin in the south.”

“Basically, if Syria remains un-unified, Israel can do what it wants in its south,” he added.

Netanyahu has repeatedly emphasised that Israel will only stand for a demilitarised Syria south of Damascus, including the region that encompasses Suwayda. This, in effect, creates a buffer zone for Israel, adding to the military reasoning for Israel’s actions in Syria.

Hollowed out by war

The attacks on Syria have the additional effect of sustaining the sense of crisis that has gripped Israeli society and sustained its government through numerous scandals since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war on Gaza.

Israel has since attacked Lebanon, Iran, Yemen and Syria.

“It’s not that people are tired of war; it’s like they no longer even care. It’s ennui,” Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said of the public response to the latest attacks.

“War gives people energy and meaning, but it’s fleeting. People have even forgotten about the war with Iran,” he said, referring to the 12-day war in June that prompted global fears of regional escalation.

All the caveats and cautions that would normally precede military action had, Goldberg noted, been replaced by ever-fresh dangers requiring new escalations.

“It’s dangerous,” he said. “Israelis don’t care about the Druze. It’s just a new threat, a new front, and now there’s this tired, ‘OK, dude. Let’s do it [attitude]’.”

“War has hollowed us out.”

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that protecting the country’s Druze citizens and their rights is a priority, as he announced that local leaders will take control of security in the city of Suwayda in a bid to end sectarian violence in the south and in the wake of deadly Israeli strikes in Damascus.

The Syrian leader made the statements in a televised speech on Thursday, addressing days of fierce clashes between Druze armed groups, Bedouin tribes and government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda that have killed more than 360 people, according to UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Israel, which sees the Druze as an ally, launched a series of powerful strikes near Syria’s presidential palace and on the military headquarters in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday, warning Syria it would escalate further if it did not withdraw from the south and halt attacks against the Druze community.

“We are keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people, as they are under the protection and responsibility of the state,” Sharaa said in the speech, describing the minority as “a fundamental part of the fabric of this nation.”

“We affirm to you that the protection of your rights and freedoms is among our top priorities, and we reject any attempt aimed at pulling you toward an external party.”

Al-Sharaa said that “responsibility” for security in the violence plagued would be handed to religious elders and some local factions “based on the supreme national interest”.

Troops withdraw

The remarks came after the Syrian government and Druze leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou announced a new ceasefire in the city, and said the army had begun withdrawing from Suwayda.

But there does not appear to be consensus in Suwayda among the Druze, a small but influential minority in both Syria and Israel.

While Sheikh Jarbou said he agreed to the ceasefire deal and spoke out against the Israeli strikes on Syria, telling Al Jazeera Arabic that “any attack on the Syrian state is an attack on the Druze community”, another influential Druze leader in the city said he rejected the ceasefire.

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari promised to continue fighting until Suwayda was “entirely liberated”.

‘Unknown fate’ avoided

In the speech, al-Sharaa called for national unity, saying that “the building of a new Syria requires all of us to stand united behind our state, to commit to its principles, and to place the interest of the nation above any personal or limited interest.”

Addressing the Druze community, he said the government rejected “any attempt to drag you into the hands of an external party”, in a reference to Israel’s intervention in the conflict.

“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 Israel’s extensive strikes, including those that killed three people and injured 34 in Damascus on Wednesday, could have pushed “matters to a large-scale escalation, if it were not for the intervention of US, Turkish and Arab mediators “which saved the region from an unknown fate”.

The US, which has softened its stance towards Syria and is attempting to re-engage and support the country’s reconstruction after more than a decade of conflict, has been eager to de-escalate the conflict, which State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce called “a misunderstanding between new neighbours”.

Actions ‘louder than words’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said al-Sharaa’s speech contained encouraging messages about the place of the Druze minority in Syrian society.

“He said that the Druze are an essential component,” said Elmasry. “He said it’s the Syrian government’s responsibility to protect them and to hold to account those who have transgressed against them in recent days.”

But, he said, it would all come down to how his government behaved in the aftermath of the speech.

“II think their actions will speak louder than words for those minority groups in Syria.”

He said the speech also contained a note of warning to Israel that it did not fear war and that “anyone who starts a war with Syria … would regret it”.

“These were messages directed at Israel, and it marked a very significant departure from what we’ve heard from him and at times not heard from him when Israel has attacked Syria,” Elmasry said.

“I think we’re at a potentially dangerous tipping point and it really will come down to, I think, the extent to which Donald Trump and the United States are willing to kind of rein in Israel,” he said.

“It’s a very difficult situation in Syria. You are talking about a very multiethnic society. You have outside forces, starting with Israel, trying to basically fragment the country and establish a separatist system, if you will, in Syria,” Elmasry said.

Cycle of violence

The escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between Druze armed factions and local Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suwayda province.

Government forces that intervened to restore order clashed with the Druze, with reports of Syrian troops committing abuses, according to local monitors and analysts.

The actions committed by members of the security forces – acknowledged as “unlawful criminal acts” by the Syrian presidency – have given Israel a pretext to bombard Syria as it builds military bases in the demilitarised buffer zone with Syria seized by its forces.

Israel has launched a series of intense strikes on Damascus, Syria’s capital, intensifying a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group.

Syria, on Wednesday, strongly condemned Israeli attacks, denouncing the strikes as a “dangerous escalation.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel of pursuing a “deliberate policy” to  “inflame tensions, spread chaos and undermine security and stability in Syria”.

The strikes killed three people and injured 34, according to Syrian officials.

Here is what we know:

What happened in Syria on Wednesday?

Israel carried out a series of air strikes on central Damascus, hitting a compound that houses the Ministry of Defence and areas near the presidential palace.

The Israeli military also struck targets in southern Syria, where fighting between Druze groups, Bedouin tribes, and Syrian security forces has continued for more than four days. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 250 people have been killed in Suwayda province during the clashes.

Israel, which already occupies the Syrian Golan Heights, says its operations aim to protect the Druze minority – whom it considers potential allies – and to strike pro-government forces accused of attacking them. Syria rejected this and called the attack a “flagrant assault”.

Where did the attacks happen?

The main attacks focused on central Damascus: the Defence Ministry, military headquarters and areas surrounding the presidential palace. Additional strikes were carried out further south.

Syria’s Defence Ministry headquarters: The compound was struck several times, with two large strikes about 3pm (12:00pmGMT), including its entrance, causing structural damage and smoke rising visibly over the city.

“Israeli warplanes [were] circling the skies over the Syrian capital,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said, reporting from Damascus. “There was panic in the city,” she added.

Near the presidential palace (Umayyad Square): Strikes also hit areas immediately around the presidential palace in central Damascus. Another air strike landed near the presidential palace in Damascus.

In a post on social media, Israel said “a military target was struck in the area of the Syrian regime’s Presidential Palace in the Damascus area”.

In the south: Israeli drones also targeted Syria’s city of Suwayda, a mainly Druze city close to the border with Jordan.

Why did Israel bomb Syria?

Israel’s air strikes followed days of deadly clashes in Suwayda between Syrian government forces and local Druze fighters. The violence began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between Druze fighters and local Bedouin tribes. When government troops intervened to restore order, they ended up clashing with Druze groups – and, in some cases, reportedly targeted civilians.

The Druze, a small but influential minority in both Syria and Israel, are seen in Israel as loyal allies, with many serving in the Israeli military. A ceasefire declared on Tuesday quickly collapsed, and fighting resumed the next day.

Suwayda’s Druze appear divided. One leader, Yasser Jarbou, declared that a ceasefire had been agreed with the Syrian government. Another, Hikmat al-Hijri, rejected any ceasefire. And many Druze in Syria do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf.

Israel has its own considerations and has been attempting to expand its control in southern Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel has shunned any attempts to come to a security agreement with Syria and has instead repeatedly bombed the country this year. Many analysts believe that Israel would prefer a weak Syria over a country it believes could potentially threaten it should it grow strong.

Intensifying attacks

Israel, citing a commitment to protect the Druze and prevent hostile forces from gaining ground near its borders, warned Wednesday it would escalate its operations unless Syrian troops withdrew from Suwayda. The province sits near both the Israeli and Jordanian borders, making it a key strategic zone.

“This is a significant escalation,” Khodr, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, said. “This is the Israeli leadership giving a very, very direct message to Syria’s new authorities that they will intensify such strikes … if the government does not withdraw its troops from southern Syria.”

As part of its campaign, Israeli forces struck the General Staff compound in Damascus, which it said was being used by senior commanders to direct operations against Druze forces in Suwayda.

Israeli officials said the strikes were also aimed at blocking the buildup of hostile forces near Israel’s frontier.

Shortly after the Damascus attacks, Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced a new ceasefire in Suwayda. According to state media, government troops began withdrawing from the area.

Syrian response

Syria condemned the Israeli strikes as a violation of international law, a stance echoed by several Arab governments.

Syria’s new government has been trying to assert control, but it has struggled to do so in Suwayda, in part due to repeated Israeli threats against any government military presence in the province.

“The Israelis are not going to allow the Syrian government to spread its authority all over the territory,” said Ammar Kahf, executive director of Omran Center for Strategic Studies, who is based in Damascus.

With the fall of al-Assad’s government and the infancy of a new one, Israel is trying to impose its will on the new leadership, he said.

“We are still in the early stages, but this requires all Syrians to come together. For a foreign government to come in and destroy public property and destroy safety and security is something that’s unexplainable,” Kahf told Al Jazeera.

The Syrian government has now announced that army forces will begin withdrawing from the city of Suwayda as part of a ceasefire agreement. It did not mention any pullout of other government security forces.

Israel has bombed Syria, saying it is acting to ‘protect’ Syria’s Druze minority after fighting broke out between Syrian government forces and Druze fighters. But who are the Druze and what do they have to do with Israel? Osama Bin Javaid explains from Damascus.

The Israeli bombings come after the Syrian government and a Druze leader both said the truce had been broken.

Israeli forces have launched air strikes on Suwayda in southern Syria, as fighting returned to the predominantly Druze city hours after the Syrian government declared a ceasefire.

The Syrian Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Tuesday that armed groups had resumed attacks on Syrian government forces with support from the Israeli Air Force.

Syria condemned Israel’s intervention as a violation of international law, while influential Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri said in a statement that it was Syrian government troops who breached a truce announced earlier in the day.

The Israeli air attacks came after Hikmat al-Hajri urged local fighters to confront what he described as a barbaric attack from government forces.

Israel has claimed its attacks on the southern Syrian region bordering Israel are meant to protect the Druze minority, which it sees as potential allies.

In a statement shared on social media, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said that Israel could not “stand idly by” as the Druze engaged in fighting.

“We see massacres and insults against the Druze, and we must fight against the terrorism regime in Syria,” Chikli said, claiming it was a “grave mistake” to acknowledge Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as the “legitimate leader” of the country.

Fighting between Bedouin tribes and local Druze fighters has reportedly killed more than 30 people and injured more than 100 since Sunday in Suwayda. Bedouin and Druze armed factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting.

United States envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Washington was in contact with all sides “to navigate towards calm and integration”.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid reporting from Damascus said that the situation in Suwayda has “further escalated, with multiple Israeli drone and air strikes they claim are in support of Druze fighters”.

Syrian government declared ‘complete ceasefire’

The latest developments come hours after Syrian Minister of Defence Murhaf Abu Qasra declared a truce in a post on social media, saying: “To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we declare a complete ceasefire.”

Abu Qasra’s announcement came shortly after the ministry deployed government forces to halt the fighting between Bedouin tribes and local fighters. The recent fighting was the first outbreak of deadly violence in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.

Syria’s Druze population numbers about 700,000, with Suwayda being home to the sect’s largest community. The Druze religious sect is a minority group that originated as a 10th-century offshoot of a branch of Shia Islam.

In Syria, the Druze primarily reside in the southern Suwayda province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south. Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.

In April, hundreds of Alawite civilians were killed in apparent retribution after fighting broke out between government forces and armed groups loyal to al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite religious sect.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on neighbouring Syria since December 2024, averaging one every three to four days.

The latest attacks come as the Netanyahu government continues to wage war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 58,479 people since October 2023.

As well as Gaza and Syria, Israel has also launched attacks on the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Iran and Yemen in recent months.

Syria’s new government is facing a serious challenge.

This time, it is not from foreign powers or from remnants of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, but instead, from within the country’s own borders.

Tensions have flared in the south, where fighting between members of the Druze minority and Bedouin groups has reignited fears of wider sectarian unrest.

The violence comes as Druze spiritual leaders refuse to recognise the authority of President Ahmed Sharaa – the man now leading the post-Assad transition government.

And in a move that could further inflame tensions, Israel has warned Damascus not to harm the Druze.

Are the concerns of the community justified?

And what does all this mean for the unity of Syria?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Louay Safi – Syrian political scientist and former professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Shadi Abou Karam – Political activist and researcher originally from Suwayda Province in Syria

Sami Akil – Political analyst and acadamic specialising in Syrian affairs

Authorities send troops to de-escalate the situation after fighting breaks out between Bedouins and Druze.

Fighting between Bedouin tribes and local fighters in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria has killed several people.

Sunday’s clashes are the first outbreak of deadly violence in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said at least eight people were killed, six Druze and two Bedouin.

Citing medical sources, local outlet Sweida 24 gave a preliminary toll of seven people killed, “including a child, and about 32 others wounded as a result of armed clashes and mutual shelling in the Maqus neighbourhood”, east of Sweida city.

It also reported the closure of the Damascus-Sweida highway because of the violence.

A Syrian government source, speaking anonymously to AFP news agency, said authorities sent soldiers to de-escalate the situation.

Call for restraint

Sweida Governor Mustapha al-Bakour called on people to “exercise self-restraint and respond to national calls for reform”.

Syria’s Druze population numbers about 700,000, with Sweida home to the sect’s largest community.

Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, with violence occasionally erupting.

Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.

Clashes between troops and Druze fighters in April and May killed dozens of people, with local leaders and religious figures signing agreements to contain the escalation and better integrate Druze fighters into the new government.